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COFnUGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE STRAWBEEEY IN NORTH AMERICA 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON -CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



THE STRAWBERRY IN 
NORTH AMERICA 



HISTORY, ORIGIN, BOTANY, AND 
BREEDING 



BY 



S. W. FLETCHER 

PROFESSOR OF HORTICULTURE AT THE PENNSTLVANL4. 
STATE COLLEGE 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1917 

AU rights reserved 










CoPTItl&HT, 1917, 

Bt the macmillan company. 

Set up and clectrotyped. Published June, 191 7. 



JUN 21 1917 



J. 8. Cnshlnp Co. — lU-iwick <k Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



©CI.A47002r, 



'V^'J ' 



PREFACE 

This book completes a survey of the strawberry as 
grown in North America. Modern cultural methods 
are presented in a companion volume, "Strawberry- 
Growing/* and all of the more than 1800 North Ameri- 
can varieties are described in Technical Bulletin 11, 
Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Blacksburg, 
Virginia, "North American Varieties of the Strawberry." 
The present volume deals mainly with the origin and his- 
tory of the North American type — one of the most 
interesting chapters in our pomology. 

The assistance of many pomologists and cultivators 
is gratefully acknowledged, more especially of Matthew 
Crawford, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. A number of the illus- 
trations are borrowed, for which acknowledgment is 
made in the List of Illustrations. 

S. W. FLETCHER. 
State College, PennsTlvania, 
May 3, 1917. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 



wild 



Early History 

Strawberries in colonial days . 

Wild strawberries of Virginia . 

Wild strawberries of New England . 

Wild strawberries of the West . 

First steps in the domestication of the 
strawberry .... 
The beginning of garden culture 

Varieties listed in early trade catalogs 

Cultural directions in early books . 
"New England Farmer" 
"American Gardener" 
"American Gardeners' Calendar" 
The beginning of commercial culture 

Near Boston 

Near New York .... 

Yields and prices .... 

The mystery of strawberry-growing . 

Varieties increase .... 
Introduction of the Hovey 

Origin of the Hovey 

The first novelty 

Unsatisfactory results with the Hovey 

A new interest in plant breeding 
Extension of commercial culture, 1838-1854 

Near Cincinnati .... 

Near New York .... 

In the South 

Condition of strawberry culture before the introduc- 
tion of the Wilson . 

Yields and prices .... 
vii 



1-34 
1-6 
1-2 
2-3 
3-4 

4^6 
6-12 

6-7 
7-12 

7-9 
10-11 
11-12 
12-21 
13-14 
14-17 
17-18 
18-19 
19-21 
21-27 
22-23 
23-25 
25 
26-27 
27-30 
27-28 
28-29 
29-30 

30-34 
30-31 



VUl 



CONTENTS 



Varieties 

Stimulating effect of the pollination discussion 

CHAPTER II 

The Rise of Commercial Strawberry-Growing 
The sway of the Wilson ..... 

Origin 

Immediate popularity .... 
Good points and objectionable features . 
Competitors — Crescent and Sharpless . 

Boom days 

Contrasting methods of culture 
Field culture at Cincinnati 
Market garden culture at Pittsburgh 
Yields and prices about 1865 . 
Special cultural methods .... 

Forcing in hot-beds and cold-frames . 

Strawberry mounds .... 
Improvement in transportation facilities . 

Extension of railroads .... 
Competition from the South . 
Ventilator cars and fruit-growers' express 
Introduction of refrigerator cars 

Early experiments of Parker Earle 

The first pre-cooling plant ... 

Beginning of the modern re-icing system 
Early history of certain of the older strawberry districts 
New Jersey ...... 

Delaware-Maryland peninsula . 
Oswego County, New York 

Michigan 

Southern Illinois 

Virginia ....... 

Charleston, South Carolina 

Florida 

North Carolina 

Gulf States and lower Mississippi Valley . 
Pacific Coast ...... 

Canada 



PAGES 

31-32 
32-34 



CONTENTS 



IX 



CHAPTER III 

History of Strawberry Packages, Methods op 
Training, and Pollination 
Early packages 

Pottle .... 

Punnet .... 

Tubs .... 

Cincinnati stand of drawers 
Evolution of the box and crate package 

Early types of boxes and crates 

Introduction of the return crate and box 
Origin of the "Hallock" 
The first gift packages 
Slow adoption of gift packages in the East 
History of methods of training 

HiU training before the Wilson 

The era of broadcast training . 

Evolution of the matted row . 

Early methods of renewing the bed 
History of the pollination discussion 

Experiments of Duchesne and Keens 

Early pollination troubles in North America 

The secret of Abergust 

The "Strawberry War" . 

Influence of culture on sex 

Report of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society 

Final vindication of "Longworth's Theory" . 



76-108 

76-81 

76 

77-78 

78 

78-81 

81-86 

81-82 

82-83 

83 

84 

84-86 

87-94 

87 

88-89 

90-92 

92-94 

94-109 

94-96 

96-98 

98-99 

99-102 

102-104 

105-107 

107-109 



CHAPTER IV 

Origin and Botany 

Early history in Europe 

References in early writings 

Origin of the English name 
Origin of the garden strawberry of Europe 

Experience with the Wood and Hautbois 

Introduction of the Scarlet 

Introduction of the Chilean 



109-156 
109-113 
109-111 
111-113 
113-125 
113 
113-114 
114-116 



CONTENTS 








PAGES 


Possible origin of the Pine .... 116-123 


As a pure seedling of F. chiloensis 


117-118 


As a hybrid of F. virginiana and F. chiloensis 


118-123 


Keens' Seedling 


123-125 


Origin of the garden strawberry of North America 


125-138 


Record of F. virginiana under cultivation 


125-128 


Historical evidence 


128-132 


Origin of Hovey .... 




128-130 


Origin of Crescent and Sharpless 




130-131 


Origin of Downer's Prolific . 




131-132 


Botanical evidence .... 




132-138 


Reversion of seedlings 




132-134 


Anatomical characters 




134-135 


Hardiness 




135-136 


Record of F. chiloensis under cultivation 




136-138 


Origin of the everbearers 




138-147 


The Alpines 




138-141 


European everbearers 




141-142 


Early failures in North America 




142-144 


The Pan-American and its descendants 




144-147 


Botany of the strawberry .... 




147-156 


Diffusion of wild strawberries . 




147-148 


F. virginiana ..... 




148-150 


F. chiloensis 




. 150-153 


F. vesca 




. 153-154 


F. elatior 




154-156 


CHAPTER V 


siRABLE Characters in a Variety . . . 157-187 


Desirable characters in the plant 






. 157-162 


Health, vigor and productiveness 






. 157-158 


Hardiness .... 






. 158-159 


Foliage 






159-160 


Runners 






160-161 


Fruit stalks and l)lossoms 






161-162 


Desirable characters in the fruit 






162-175 


Season of ripening . 






. 162-163 


Size 






163-164 


Records of "mammoth" berries 






. 164-167 



CONTENTS 


XI 




PAGES 


Shape, calyx, color 


167-171 


Seeds, shipping value 


171-172 


Flavor, quality 


172-175 


Describing and scoring varieties . . . . 


175-181 


Form for describing varieties . 


176-178 


Score cards 


178-181 


Food value ....... 


181-187 


Chemical analyses 


181-183 


Are wild strawberries sweeter than cultivated 




sorts 


183-184 


Supposed medicinal value 


184-187 


CHAPTER VI 




REEDING 


. 188-227 


The four stem-varieties 


. 189-192 


Descendants of Hovey .... 


. 189-190 


Descendants of Wilson .... 


190 


Descendants of Sharpless 


. 190-191 


Descendants of Crescent .... 


. 191-192 


Breeding for a specific purpose 


. 192-201 


Changing ideals 


. 192-193 


Breeding for one thing at a time 


. 193-195 


Selecting the parents .... 


. 195-196 


Botanical relationships and morphology . 


. 196-198 


When fruit buds are formed 


. 198-200 


Abnormal structural forms 


. 200-201 


Breeding methods ...... 


. 201-210 


Methods of the early breeders . 


. 201-203 


Hand-crossing 


. 203-207 


Sowing the seed 


. 207-208 


Fruiting the seedlings .... 


. 208-210 


Bud variation ...... 


. 210-215 


Variation caused by environment 


. 210-211 


Reported instances of bud variation 


211-212 


" Pedigree " plants 


212-214 


Strawberry breeders 


215-220 


Achievements of Boyden, Downer, Durand 


215-216 


List of breeders, 1854-1900 


21&-217 


Breeders since 1900 


217-218 



Xll 



CONTENTS 



The rewards of strawberry breeding 


PAGES 

. 218-219 


Methods of introducing varieties 


. 219-220 


Naming and testing new varieties . 


. 220-227 


Form of name 


. 220-221 


Synonyms 


222 


What is a distinct variety 


. 223-224 


Value of variety tests 


. 224-225 


Why varieties run out 


. 225-227 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PIGUEE PAGE 

1. Crimson Cone ; grown near New York about 1820 . 16 

2. C. M. Hovey, originator of the Hovey strawberry . 22 

3. The Hovey strawberry, the first variety of any fruit 

originated in North America by definite plant 
breeding. (From Mag. Hort., 1840, p. 286) . 24 

4. Parker Earle, who developed the refrigerator car for 

strawberry transportation 60 

5. Type of punnet used for the New York City market, 

1815-1850 77 

6. The Cincinnati stand of drawers, used in the Missis- 

sippi Valley, 1850-1890. (From The Cult, and 
Count. Gent., 1866, p. 222) 79 

7. A ** male and female blossom of the Hudson," as drawn 

by Nicholas Longworth, in 1842. (From Mag. 
Hort., 1842, p. 258) 100 

8. Nicholas Longworth, who directed attention to the 

pollination problem 107 

9. Drawing of the strawberry in Parkinson's "Para- 

disus Terrestris," pubHshed in 1629J . . .110 

10. Old Pine, or Pineapple, the progenitor of the garden 

strawberry. (From British Fruits, I, No. 47) . 116 

11. Keens' Seedling, the first improved variety; intro- 

duced in 1821. (From Trans. Royal Hort. Soc, 

V, p. 261) 124 

12. Large Early Scarlet, a form of F. virginiana and the 

dominant variety in North America, 1830-1860. 
(From Rept. U. S. Dept. Agr., 1853) . . .127 

13. Pan-American, the first North American everbearer. 

(From L. R. Johnson, Cape Girardeau, Mo.) . 145 

14. F. virginiana. (From " Evolution of Our Native 

Fruits" by L. H. Bailey, p. 428) .... 149 

15. F. chiloensis ........ 151 

16. The Alpine form of F. vesca 154 

xiii 



xiv - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE PAGE 

17. A "mammoth" berry ; it weighed 4| ounces. (From 

catalog of A. T. Goldsborough, Washington, 
D.C.) 166 

18. Banana, introduced in 1870 168 

19. The long root stalk of a very old plant . . . 197 

20. Proliferous strawberry. (From Meehan's Monthly, 

1894, p. 37) 199 

21. An abnormal structural form. (From Rept. Cuba 

Exp. Station, 1905-1909, p. 145) . . . .200 

22. A freak strawberry, with the exposed seed carpels 

covered with pulp, like a blackberry. (From 
Meehan's Monthly, 1902, p. 12) . . . . 201 

23. A staminate blossom, showing the numerous yellow 

anthers, which contain the pollen, surrounding 

the cone of green pistils 202 

24. Anthers cUpped off and exposed to the sun, to secure 

pollen 204 

25. Pollinating with a camel's-hair brush. (From L. H. 

Bailey, Ithaca, New York) 205 

26. Matthew Crawford, for nearly fifty years the foremost 

North American propagator of the strawberry , 220 



THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



THE 
STEAWBERM IN NORTH AMERICA 



CHAPTER I 

EARLY HISTORY 

From the settlement at Jamestown to the introduction of the 

Wilson 

The strawberry is distinctly Pan-American. Both of 
the species from which most of the garden varieties of 
today have descended — Fragaria mrginiana and F. 
chiloensis — were secured by the Old World from the 
New. The largest acreage of cultivated strawberries is 
on . th , continent. The value of all the strawberries 
produced and marketed in North America each year, 
exclusive of the large quantity grown for home use, ex- 
ceeds $20,000,000; this represents more than half of the 
commercial strawberry production of the world. The 
rise of commercial strawberry culture in the United States 
and Canada, which has taken place within the memory 
of men now living, is one of the most interesting chapters 
in North American horticulture. 

Strawbeeries in Colonial Days 

From the beginning of its Caucasian history, and 
probably for centuries previous, North America has 

B 1 



2 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

been a land of wild strawberries. The first settlers at 
Jamestown, in 1607, found them in abundance. Captain 
John Smith mentioned, among other fruits found in the 
new Eldorado, "strawberries which ripen in April." One 
of the early colonists reported to his friends in England 
that when he went into the woods he came upon great 
areas of land overgrown with these plants, and the berries 
were "four times larger and much more exquisitely 
flavored" than the wild strawberries of England.^ In 
fact, so abundant were the berries, another man declares, 
that in walking through the woods around Jamestown 
"it was impossible to direct the foot without dyeing it 
in the blood of this fruit." ^ Some may consider this 
statement colored by the vivid experiences of the ex- 
plorer ; but certainly not the report of conservative 
Ralph Hamor that there were "great fields and woods 
abounding with strawberries, much fairer and more 
sweete than ours." 

As fast as the Virginia settlers cut down the forests, 
strawberries sprang up in the clearings. When the fields 
had been cropped to exhaustion with corn, wheat, and 
tobacco, they were abandoned and new ground cleared, 
as was the custom in the prodigal husbandry of that 
period. These old fields soon abounded with wild straw- 
berries. \For a century or more after the settlement of 
Virginia, wild strawberries were so plentiful that "very 
few persons take care to transplant them, but can find 
enough to fill their baskets, when they have a mind, in 
the deserted old fields." 

The wild straivberries of New England. — Meanwhile 
the Pilgrims, the Massachusetts Bay colony, and other 

* Percy's Discourse, p. xliii. 

' Force's Historical Tracts, Vol. III. ' 



EARLY HISTORY 3 

northern settlers, were having similar delightful experi- 
ences. Young's "Chronicles of the Pilgrims'' records 
expeditions from Plymouth into the surrounding country, 
on which they found "strawberries innumerable." New 
England was forest clad at that time (1620) ; it was the 
custom of the Indians to burn over certain areas each year, 
in order ito secure ground in which to plant corn. Straw- 
berries thrived in these burnt-over districts. Morton, 
who was at Plymouth in 1622, says, in his "New Eng- 
land Canaan," " Wild strawberries grew in plenty in the 
meadow and champaign lands." 

In 1629 William Wood visited New England; he re- 
turned to England in 1633 and there published the follow- 
ing year his "New England's Prospect," which is a record 
of Jiis experiences and observations in the New World. 
Of the Massachusetts Plantations he says, "There is 
likewise Strawberries in abundance, verie large ones, some 
being two inches about ; one may gather halfe a bushel! 
in a forenoone." In 1643 Roger Williams wrote, "This 
berrie is the wonder of all the fruits growing naturally in 
these parts. In some parts where the natives have 
planted" (that is, planted corn), "I have many times 
seen as many as would fill a good ship within a few miles 
compass. The Indians bruise them in a mortar and 
mix them with meale and make Strawberry bread." 
Strawberry bread was commonly used by the Indians 
in other parts of the continent, as well as along the 
Atlantic coast. 

The colonists of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
the Carolinas, and other parts of the Atlantic sea- 
board found wild strawberries no less abundant than in 
Virginia and New England. In 1683 William Penn 
mentioned with appreciation the abundance of wild 



4 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

strawberries in Pennsylvania. As the pioneers pushed 
westward, in parallel lines, occupying successively western 
New York, Michigan and Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and 
the great Mississippi Valley, the wild strawberry every- 
where greeted them with an abundance of fresh fruit — a 
most w^elcome addition to frontier fare. It was so in 
lost Arcadia, and in old Quebec. The wild strawberry 
refreshed the "forty-niners" of California, and those who 
followed the Lewis and Clark trail. In our owti time, it 
has brought cheer to the settlers on the last frontiers, in 
Manitoba and Alaska. Always the wild strawberry has 
been intimately and gratefully associated with pioneer 
life. We can hardly blame those who have enjoyed its 
bounty under these circumstances if they refuse to admit 
that any cultivated variety is half as sweet. 

First steps in the domestication of the wild strawberry. — 
For many years after the colonies were established, there 
was little, if any, garden culture of the strawberry. 
Wild berries were so plentiful that this was unnecessary. 
The abundant supply of native berries was appreciated all 
the more because of the limited supply of most other 
fruits. It was extremely difficult to secure improved 
varieties of apples, pears and other tree fruits. There 
were no nurseries here then; trees or cions had to be 
brought from Europe. The journey was long and trying, 
occupying fully a month, and the recourse to seedling 
orchards gave but a small proportion of useful sorts. 

The first step in the domestication of the strawberry 
naturally would be to transfer to the garden some of the 
most superior plants found in the fields. Since the native 
berry was so decidedly superior to the best European sorts 
of that time, there was no object in importing varieties 
from Europe, as was the case with most other fruits. It is 



EARLY HISTORY 5 

possible that this ameHoration may have been begun, in a 
very Hmited way, by the first settlers, since it is recorded 
by English horticulturists that the Large Early Scarlet, 
a large-fruited form of F. mrginiana, was introduced into 
England about 1624. It is not likely, however, that 
garden culture began much before 1700. Any superior 
wilding that was found was more likely to be sent to 
Europe, where the possibilities of the "American Scarlet" 
as a garden fruit were instantly appreciated and enthusias- 
tically exploited, than to be kept in America, where every 
hillside and meadow yielded an abundant harvest to all 
who might seek it. 

Small towns soon sprang up, and the cultivated area 
surrounding them gradually widened. As the land be- 
came more fully subdued in tilled crops, it was no longer 
the habitat of the wild strawberry. It became necessary 
for the housewife to go farther and farther afield to gather 
the annual supply for preserves and jam. There came a 
time when this trip became long and irksome ; then wild 
plants were transplanted to the garden. This was the 
beginning of strawberry culture. It now became desir- 
able to scrutinize the wild plants more closely, so as to 
find those of superior productiveness, size or flavor, in 
order that the garden space might be most fruitful. This 
was the beginning of strawberry breeding. 

Until about 1750, there was no garden culture of the 
strawberry except of these transplanted wildings, and 
even these were grown only in a very few gardens. Nearly 
everybody, even in the larger towns, still depended upon 
the supply of wild berries. Long before the Revolution, 
wild strawberries became an article of barter and sale in 
Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Their 
streets resounded then, as now, with the long drawn out 



6 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

and not unmusical vendor's cry, " Strawber-r-ries, ripe 
strawber-r-ries ! " At that time the strawberry season 
was limited to the period of ripening of the nearby wild 
berries, which was not over four weeks ; now it is extended 
over six months, and berries may be had the year around. 

The Beginning of Garden Culture 

Garden culture of the strawberry began to receive more 
serious attention about 1750, especially from a few well-to- 
do amateurs who could afford to employ private gar- 
deners. The hautbois, wood and Chilean strawberries 
were introduced from Europe then, together with some of 
the improved varieties of F. virginiana that had been 
developed by English horticulturists. 

Varieties listed in early trade catalogs. — Much of this 
interest was stimulated by the establishment, about the 
middle of the century, of the first North American nurs- 
ery, by William Prince, at Flushing, on Long Island, New 
York. For many years, Prince's Linnsean Garden was 
the chief center for the dissemination of horticultural 
plants. William Prince died in 1 802, leaving the business to 
his son, William Prince, who, in turn, handed it dowTi to 
his son, William Robert Prince ; so that the firm had an 
unbroken history of over a century. It exerted a pro- 
found influence during the formative period of North 
American horticulture. The first North American trade 
catalogs of horticultural plants were issued by Prince. In 
one of the earliest, sent out in 1771, three kinds of straw- 
berries are offered for sale : " Large Hautboys, the Chili, 
the Redwood." 

He sold these for "one shilling per dozen roots.'* 
The Hautboys was F. elatior, the hautbois of Europe; 



EARLY HISTORY 7 

the Chili was F. chiloensis, the wild strawberry of the 
Pacific coast of North and South America, which had been 
introduced into Europe about 1735; the Redwood was 
F. vesca, the common wild strawberry of England. The 
native Scarlet or Virginian strawberry, F. virginiana, was 
generally considered so superior in flavor to the hautbois and 
Chilean, as well as more prolific, that these were grown 
only in a few gardens ; the Red Wood, and its companion 
the White Wood, were cultivated quite commonly, espe- 
cially in the vicinity of Boston. 

Perhaps Prince did not list any variety of F. mrginiana 
in 1771 because his stock was mostly imported from 
Europe; but it is more likely that no variety had yet 
appeared sufficiently superior to the wild berry to warrant 
propagation. Large Early Scarlet, which became a 
standard variety later, had been sent to England more 
than a century before, but it does not seem to have 
been grown here until after 1800. In his 1791 catalog 
Prince added to his list "Hudson (very large, fine 
flavor, and great bearers) ; 2 s per dozen. ^' Later this 
was called Early Hudson; it was the first named 
variety listed in North America, and was a form of the 
Scarlet. 

Cultural directions in early books. — In 1790 appeared the 
first North American book containing much information on 
horticulture, Samuel Dean's "New England Farmer." 
This is a cyclopedic work, patterned somewhat after 
Philip Miller's "Dictionary of Gardening," a standard 
English book, much quoted in America at that time. It 
gives an interesting picture of the status of strawberry 
culture in North America at the close of the eighteenth 
century. "There are four sorts," says Dean, "the wood 
strawberry, the Virginia or Scarlet strawberry, the haut- 



8 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

boy strawberry and the Strawberry of Chili. " He advises 
that the Virginian be grown : " It is most common and 
perhaps most worthy of cultivation." The relative im- 
portance of hay and strawberries is clearly defined by 
Dean : " Our grass fields often produce these strawberries 
in plenty, but it is better to have a spot of ground devoted 
to the culture of them, as they will be much larger and 
better flavored, and the trampling of the grass in the 
mowing may be thus in some measure prevented." His 
cultural directions, mostly quoted from Miller, are interest- 
ing not only as a record of the approved methods of that 
time, but also as evidence of the slavish copying of Eng- 
lish methods which characterized the early years of 
North American horticulture : 

"Lay the ground out into beds of four feet broad, with 
paths two feet or two feet and a half between them, these 
paths being for the convenience of gathering the straw- 
berries and for weeding and dressing the beds. The plants 
should be in the quincunx order, and fifteen inches apart, 
so there will be but three rows in each bed. The plants 
should never be taken from old, neglected beds, where 
the plants have been suffered to run into a multitude of 
suckers, or from any plants w^hich are not fruitful ; and 
those offsets that stand nearest to the old plants should 
always be preferred to those w^hich are produced from the 
trailing stalks at a greater distance. 

"During the summer the plants should be kept clear 
from weeds, and all the runners should be pulled off as 
fast as they are produced. If this is constantly practiced 
the plants will become very strong. Wlierever the suckers 
are suffered to remain they rob the fruitful plants of their 
nourishment in proportion to their number. I have 
known, where the old plants have been constantly kept 



EARLY HISTORY 9 

clear of suckers, they have continued very fruitful three 
years without being transplanted." 

With slight modification, these directions, written 125 
years ago, might stand for the " Kevitt System, " and other 
so-called modern methods of culture. Probably he had 
the Scarlet strawberry most in mind when he advised, 
"But little dung should be applied to the soil, as a large 
quantity will cause them to run much and to be less 
fruitful." The English practice of growing strawberries 
in raised "beds" seems to have fastened that name per- 
manently upon the planting of small areas. Not until 
1850 was there a strawberry "field." One important 
departure from English methods is noted : " The time to 
remove the plants is said by the above mentioned author, 
(Miller), to be September or the beginning of October, but 
they are known to do well in this country when removed in 
early spring." 

There is nothing in "The New England Farmer," or 
contemporaneous publications, which would indicate that 
strawberries were grown commercially at that time. The 
only strawberries marketed were the wild ones that were 
peddled about the streets. \Strawberry culture was 
confined to the home gardens of gentlemen of means who 
employed private gardener's. These gardeners were 
mostly from England, where they had been trained in 
the apprentice school of rule-of-thumb gardening. It 
was inevitable that they should persist in attempting to 
grow strawberries here exactly as they had been taught 
to grow them in England. The results were hardly less 
disastrous than was the case with grapes. For years the 
general public considered strawberry-growing an ex- 
ceedingly difficult and uncertain matter, that only the 
initiated might undertake with prospect of success. Here 



10 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

and there wild plants were transferred to gardens, but 
most people depended upon the meadows and hillsides for 
a supply. This was the situation at the close of the 
eighteenth century. 

In 1804 appeared the first indigenous book devoted 
wholly to horticulture, "The American Gardener,'' by 
John Gardiner and David Hepburn. The first edition 
gives but scant consideration to the strawberry: "Wild 
strawberries may be planted in shady situations, but the 
others do best in open situations. Pineapples, Chili, 
scarlet and hautboy are also very good strawberries." 
This is the first record of the cultivation in North America 
of the "Pine" strawberry, from which most of the varie- 
ties of today have sprung ; but it may have been imported 
some years previous, as it was quite widely disseminated 
in Europe by 1759. 

There was added to the second edition of " The American 
Gardener" a valuable "Treatise on Gardening," which had 
been "written many years ago by a learned and eminent 
Virginian, who printed it for the use of his friends, " and 
who resided at Williamsburg. Probably it was written 
before 1790. This anonymous but eminent citizen of 
Virginia — possibly John Taylor of Caroline, author 
of "Arator" — gives the following clear-cut directions 
on strawberry culture ; it is evident that his experience 
had been extended and his observation keen : 

"There are three sorts chiefly propagated; the wood, 
the scarlet or Virginia and the hautboy. There is a green 
sort which some call drayton and others pine apple, from 
its participating of the flavor of that delicious fruit, but 
none has ever been brought into this country, and it is 
but rarely to be met with, even in England. 

"September is the best month for transplanting. 



EARLY HISTORY 11 

though it is often done in February. But I have myself 
transplanted with success when in full bloom. The soil 
this plant delights in ought to be a fresh loamy sort. If 
too rich the vines grow rampant, and do not produce the 
fruit so good as in ground less enriched. All strawberries 
should be at least a foot distant, but I recommend two 
feet, to have them in great perfection. They ought to be 
planted with alleys two feet wide, for the convenience of 
going between to cleanse them of weeds, very prejudicial 
to them. In the spring, when your vines are in flower, if it 
is dry, water them, otherwise their blossoms will drop off. 

"In September you should pull off all the strings, or 
runners, and every weak plant ; dig up between the beds 
and strew some fine mould or wood-pile earth between the 
plants, observing not to cover them with it; this will 
greatly strengthen them and your fruit will be much larger. 
They do not last above three years, so that to keep con- 
stantly supplied you should make a new plantation a year 
before the old ones are destroyed. The Scarlet straw- 
berry will come a fortnight sooner than any other sort. 
The Chili strawberry will grow to the size of a hen's egg. 
The best dung (if any) for strawberries is that of cows, 
sheep and pigeons. In order to have them later in 
season and to afford a succession, cut off the tops of some 
before they blossom, which will retard their ripening until 
the forward ones are gone. Many people keep them 
constantly strung, but I should imagine that wounds them, 
but in the proper season." 

The "American Gardeners' Calendar," by Bernard 
McMahon, a nursery-man and seedsman of Philadelphia, 
was published in 1806. McMahon recognized six kinds : 
the Scarlet, Hautbois, Chilean, Monthly Alpine, Wood, 
and " F. Anassa, the Pineapple, together with many others 



12 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

arising from these, differing principally in the color of their 
fruit." He recommended the Scarlet and the Pineapple 
for general cultivation, and advised planting in beds four 
feet wide, with plants fifteen to eighteen inches apart 
each way. This, likewise, was the advice of Grant 
Thorburn in his " Gentleman^s and Gardener's Kalender, " 
showing that English methods still dominated American 
practice. A trade catalog issued in 1810 by William 
Booth, of Baltimore, offered, in addition to the several 
species listed by McMahon, two named varieties of the 
Scarlet — Large Early Scarlet and Hudson's Bay. These 
two varieties soon became the dominant sorts, and held this 
position for fifty years, until the introduction of the Wilson. 
Booth also listed "a new strawberry raised from seed"; 
this is the first record of a seedling strawberry in North 
America. 

The Beginning of Commercial Culture 

The cultivation of strawberries for market began soon 
after 1800. Until then, only wild or "common" fruit 
had been marketed. Perhaps the surplus product of 
some home gardens had been sold or bartered among 
neighbors, but only in a very limited way. About this 
time the nurseries began to propagate and disseminate 
several improved varieties of F. virginiana, notably Early 
Hudson, Hudson's Bay, and Large Early Scarlet. These 
were so superior to the wild berries offered for sale, espe- 
cially in size, that soon there was a demand for them that 
could no longer be met by neighborly exchange of the 
product of home gardens. In response to this demand, 
commercial strawberry culture, as distinct from garden or 
amateur culture, began. 



EARLY HISTORY 13 

Near Boston. — The first commercial strawberry grow- 
ing began about 1812 in the vicinity of the four largest 
towns of that period — Boston, New York, Philadelphia 
and Baltimore. At that time none of these cities had a 
population of over 50,000, except New York. In his 
"Travels in New England," written before 1817 but not 
published until 1821, Dr. Timothy D wight notes that 
five kinds of strawberries were cultivated in New England : 
"Red Meadow, White Meadow, Field, Hudson and Haut- 
boy." Red Meadow was the common wild strawberry; 
White Meadow was a white-fruited form of that species, 
then, as now, quite plentiful in the Berkshire hills. He 
considered Red Meadow the best of the five kinds, and said 
he had "cultivated it for more than twenty years, and 
during that time it has increased to twice its original size, 
being four and a half inches in circumference." Soon 
after this, certainly no later than 1820, commercial culture 
in New England began, and the Red Wood and "Early 
Virginia," which is Large Early Scarlet, emerged as the 
standard commercial sorts of that section. A reminis- 
cence of this period was given by James F. C. Hyde in 
1869:1 

"Those of us who are now actively engaged in straw- 
berry culture can remember when there were only two 
varieties of this fruit in cultivation in the best gardens of 
Massachusetts, and when it was grown in very limited 
quantities for market. We well remember when some of 
our neighbors picked daily fifty to one hundred boxes, 
and that was all that could be disposed of at fair prices. 
The varieties then cultivated were the Wood and Early 
Virginia, the former an imported variety, the latter an 
American sort. In time, some more foreign sorts were 
1 Amer. Jour. HorL, V, p. 2 (Jan., 1869). 



14 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

introduced, but they were not hardy enough to withstand 
the scorching suns of summer and blasting cold of winter, 
and they were not successfully or extensively cultivated. 
Then not a mile of railroad was built in this country; 
all the fruit (which was not much) was carried to market 
in wagons. Then the warm soils of New Jersey, that now 
produce strawberries by the tens of thousands of bushels, 
were covered with pines. Then the vast prairies of the 
west were an unbroken solitude." 

The Red Wood was the most important commercial 
variety in New England until 1840, when theHovey re- 
placed it. White Wood, a white-fruited form of the same 
species, was grown to a more limited extent, as all white 
sorts must be. Red Wood was grown somewhat in other 
sections, especially in New York, until 1830. It is note- 
worthy as the only European sort that attained prominence 
commercially in the early years of North American straw- 
berry growing. The Hautbois, Alpine, Pineapple, Chilean 
and other sorts imported from Europe were valued by 
amateurs, who could afford to woo their fickle fancies in 
home gardens, but were utter failures commercially. 
According to C. M. Hovey, the Red Wood was a heavy 
bearer under neglect, "producing a good crop for three 
successive years on beds running into mats." It was 
rather inferior in flavor, as compared with the Old Scarlet, 
but had the advantage of a longer season of ripening, so 
that it complemented the short season of that variety. 
Until the introduction of the Hovey, these two sorts 
supplied the Boston market. 

The rapid growth of the city of New York soon created 
a demand for strawberries that made the available supply 
of wild berries inadequate. For many years these wild 
berries had been hawked about the streets, coming mainly 



EARLY HISTORY 15 

from the near county of Bergen, New Jersey. Commercial 
strawberry culture for the New York market began about 
1820 in the vicinity of Hackensack, Bergen County, New 
Jersey. Andrew M. Hopper, of Pascock, New Jersey, thus 
recalls the circumstances : " When I was a boy of ten years, 
I can well remember picking strawberries with my father. 
At that time (about 1824) we had no crates, but packed the 
baskets in larger baskets called hampers. In those days 
there were no commission merchants in New York that 
dealt in berries, so each farmer was compelled to go with 
and sell his own fruit. There were no railroads then; 
all the berries were carted to New York in wagons, crossing 
the Hudson at Hoboken, or went by boat." The market 
was very limited ; in the words of F. H. Hexamer,^ "A few 
wagon-loads of Hackensack berries, brought across the 
river in sailing sloops as often as twice a week, when 
wind and tide permitted, constituted the entire supply 
of New York ; and a period of three weeks comprised the 
limits of the strawberry season." 

The methods of growing strawberries for the New York 
market at that time were very crude. Near Boston the 
industry began by enlarging the home garden ; the plants 
still were grown in beds, carefully trenched and dunged 
and all runners removed, in accordance with the most ap- 
proved English practice. It was not field culture of the 
strawberry, as we know it today, but merely an extension 
of the home garden, culminating later in the intensive 
market gardens of Belmont and Arlington. The New 
York supply, on the other hand, which came mostly from 
the sandy soils of Bergen and Monmouth counties, was 
grown in open fields and on rough hill-sides. The plants 
were simply set out and allowed to take care of themselves ; 
1 Rept. N. J. Hort. Soc, 1881, p. 27. 



16 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

little if any cultivation was given. They soon took 
possession of the land and shifted for themselves during 
the five or more years that the field was left in berries, 
except that the weeds were mowed occasionally. 

The variety used in this unique and easy-going scheme 
was the Crimson Cone, a form of the Scarlet. It also was 
called Scotch Runner, Scotch Runaway, and Dutchberry ; 
in New York these berries were called " Hackensacks ", 
because most of them came from the New Jersey town of 
that name. The Crimson Cone was fairly prolific of 
medium sized berries with very long necks, which made 
them easy to pick so as to leave the hulls on 
the vines. This was considered an advan- 
tage since strawberries usually were sold 
after being "capped." The fruit was 
marketed in the small, splint baskets for- 
merly used for wild berries, but now holding 
about half a pint. These baskets were 
nested one on top of another, in hampers. 
They sold in New York for three to eight 
Fig 1.— Crim- cents a basket. The average net returns 
son Cone ; grown from an acre were thirty to forty dollars, 
about 18^. °^ which was considered a good profit, and was 
larger than that from most other crops 
grown at that time. 

This free and easy method of strawberry growing sup- 
plied most of the berries marketed in New York until 
about 1840; then it was crowded out by more intensive 
methods. There must have been other centers of produc- 
tion tributary to New York, however, since William Prince 
stated in 1827, "The bulk of the fruit sold in the New 
York market is Early Hudson." 

At a few other points besides the vicinity of Boston 




EARLY HISTORY 17 

and New York there was considerable progress in commer- 
cial strawberry culture some years before the introduction 
of the Hovey. Philadelphia then was a center of horti- 
cultural interest, with a large body of enthusiastic am- 
ateurs who did much to encourage the culture of the straw- 
berry. As early as 1815, perhaps sooner, Anne Arundel 
County, Maryland, began to grow strawberries for the 
Baltimore and Philadelphia markets, laying the founda- 
tion of the industry which now gives Maryland pre- 
eminence in strawberry acreage. About 1830 the Horti- 
cultural Society of Charleston, South Carolina, was a 
center of amateur interest in strawberry culture, and 
several interesting papers on this subject appear in its 
proceedings. Cincinnati, then in the "far west," had 
barely made a beginning in the industry, the magnitude of 
which, a few years later roused the wonder and admiration 
of the East. 

Yields and prices. — Save in the neighborhood of Boston, 
the methods were quite crude, and the results meager. A 
correspondent of the American Farmer, in 1823, advanced 
the opinion that strawberries should be left to grow up in 
grass, since that is the way they grow in nature. The 
same year a Maryland correspondent of this paper re- 
ported his success in growing " two squares of strawberries, 
each forty-five feet square, using the native strawberry 
from the woods." The yield was so great that "a 
single acre would produce the enormous quantity of 80 
bushels." Feeling that this statement "might be con- 
sidered by some as bordering upon the marvellous," he 
called in "several gentlemen of high respectability" to 
vouch for the truth of his assertions.^ 

The prices received in those days are likely to rouse the 

1 American Farmer, Dee. 26, 1823. 
c 



18 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

covetousness of the modern grower. The Genesee Farmer 
for 1833 reports : " A few strawberries were in the Fulton 
Street market. New York, on May 21, and were selling 
at the rate of 12 shillings a quart." ^ In June, 1837, 
strawberries were quoted on the Fulton Street market 
at "12-J cents per basket, containing about a pint." As 
a matter of fact, these baskets hardly averaged one third 
of a quart. On the same date Faneuil Hall Market, Boston, 
quoted : 

"Strawberries, per quart : Wood, 25 to 37^ cents. 

Keens' Seedling, 50 to 75 cents. 
Common, 37|- to 50 cents." 

The lower price of strawberries on the New York market 
was doubtless because all the supply was "common," 
having been grown under conditions but little removed 
from the wild. 

Strawberries could not have been over-abundant in 
the home town of the Genesee Farmer (Rochester, New 
York), or it would not have been moved to report, in 1833, 
"A pint of strawberries of large size and delicious flavor 
were picked from the garden of H. N. Langworthy, of 
this village." ^ Nor would it appear that the standard of 
size was high, if we are to believe the Poughkeepsie (New 
York) Journal, which, in 1836, was "presented with several 
mammoth strawberries from the garden of N. G. Carnes 
of this city, the largest of which measures three and 
three quarters inches in circumference." Nowadays 
"mammoth" berries are over twelve inches in cir- 
cumference. 

The mystery of strawberry growing. — Numerous ex- 
periences like the following tended to discourage the exten- 

1 Genesee Farmer, 1833, p. 166. 2 75^^^,^ 1333^ p. 175. 



EARLY HISTORY 19 

sion of planting at this time: "My strawberry vines 
are thick and luxuriant ; they blossom well and then blight. 
How can the blight be prevented?"^ This wholesale 
"blighting" of blossoms was due to lack of pollination; 
these were pistillate plants. Although the facts concern- 
ing the sex relations of the cultivated strawberry had been 
clearly pointed out by Duchesne, and by Michael Keens, 
in England, these facts were not generally known or ac- 
cepted in North America or, for that matter, still less so 
in England. The inevitable result was that many 
luxuriant beds of strawberries, on which every attention 
but one had been lavished, were wholly "barren," or 
indifferently fruitful. These experiences gave the straw- 
berry a reputation for fickleness, which was not removed 
until the controversy between Longworth and Hovey, 
about 1845, directed attention to this hitherto unsuspected 
essential to success. m^ 

Varieties increase. — Although the improvement in 
cultural methods between 1800 and 1838, when the Hovey 
was introduced, was not marked, there was considerable 
progress in the development of improved varieties. In 
1800 the Red Wood, Early Hudson and Old Scarlet com- 
prised the list of sorts that were really worthy of general 
cultivation; the Chili, Hautbois, Alpine and Pineapple 
deserved attention only from amateurs who could afford 
to pet them. By 1836 the list had grown to over fifty; 
the most valuable of the new sorts were Large Early 
Scarlet, Hudson's Bay, Methven Scarlet, and Mulberry. 
Hudson's Bay first appears in the 1823 catalog of William 
Prince, as "Large Hudson." It had been introduced into 
England from North America about 1785, but, like Large 
Early Scarlet, apparently was not appreciated here until 
J^ American Farmer, May, 1823, p. 46. 



20 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

after it had won recognition abroad. Large Early Scarlet 
was catalogd here in 1824. 

Following the production of Keens' Seedling in 1819, 
by Michael Keens, of Isleworth, England, quite a 
number of "Pines," mostly descendants of this variety, 
were introduced here, as well as a number of English varie- 
ties of the Scarlet. Keens' Seedling was listed by Prince 
in 1824. In 1827 William Prince cultivated thirty varie- 
ties in his Linnsean Garden, of which he valued Old Scarlet, 
Early Hudson, and Hudson's Bay most highly. Few of 
the imported Pine varieties were suflSciently successful 
here to warrant their cultivation except in home gardens, 
and even there they required a great deal of coddling. 
A notable exception was the Mulberry, which C. M. 
Hovey reported in 1835 as "extensively cultivated around 
Boston for the market," and which he used in making 
the crosses that produced the Hovey. 

One European variety of the Scarlet, introduced about 
1825, gained a strong foothold here. In 1832 the Genesee 
Farmer, of Rochester, New York, acknowledged: "The 
distribution of the Methven Scarlet through this western 
country, by Messrs. Buel and Prince, has given an entirely 
new impetus to the cultivation of the strawberry." This 
variety, a seedling of Hudson's Bay, was quite widely 
grown until about 1845. In 1838 it was quoted on the 
Boston market at fifty to seventy-five cents a box, which 
was higher than Keens' Seedling. In 1835 William 
Prince, who had the best horticultural collection in 
the country, offered for sale fifty varieties, of which 
Hudson's Bay, Large Early Scarlet, Early Hudson 
and Morrisania Scarlet were the only sorts of North 
American origin. He adds, "Many other kinds have 
been imported." 



EARLY HISTORY 21 

At the close of this period — with the introduction of the 
Hovey, in 1838 — the strawberry was still a fruit of the 
open fields and home gardens. In the vicinity of Boston, 
New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Cincinnati, and 
perhaps near a few other towns, a little progress had been 
made in commercial culture. The great uncertainty that 
attended its cultivation, due to ignorance of pollination 
requirements as well as to lack of suitable varieties, pre- 
vented most people from growing it, even in the home 
garden. Wealthy gentlemen, who employed private 
gardeners, were able to serve the improved English 
varieties to their guests, as a luxury; most people still 
depended upon the supply of wild fruit. 

The Introduction of the Hovey 

The origination of the Hovey strawberry, in 1834, 
marked a turning point in North American horticulture. 
Although the United States had cut herself loose from 
England politically, she was still tied to the apron strings 
of the mother country horticulturally. English varieties 
and English methods still dominated. Probably this was 
more true of the strawberry than of any other fruit. Of 
the fifty or more varieties that had been grown previous 
to this time, all were imported from England, with the 
exception of Old Scarlet, which was merely the type of 
F. mrginiana. Even Large Early Scarlet, Hudson's Bay, 
Early Hudson, and Morrisania Scarlet, which had origi- 
nated here, first had been submitted to English gardeners 
for the stamp of their approval, before being grown in 
North America. In home gardens, and in the commercial 
plantations near Boston, strawberries were planted in 
trenched beds, and grown in hills, regardless of the radical 



22 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



difference in climatic conditions. American horticulturists 
still were copying Old World methods. 

Origin of the Homy. — The first named variety of any 
fruit produced in North America by definite plant breed- 
ing was the Hovey strawberry, originated by C. M. Hovey 
of Boston, in 1834. It was natural that this important 

pioneer work should have been 
done at that point and at that 
time. Boston was the center 
of progressive horticulture in 
North America. In 1829 a 
group of enthusiastic and well- 
posted amateurs had organized 
there the Massachusetts Horti- 
cultural Society, which now has 
an unbroken and notable his- 
tory of nearly a century. The 
organization of this society 
definitely marked the separa- 
tion of horticulture from general 
agriculture on this continent. 
This pioneer society (the one 
organized at New York in 1818 had but a brief existence), 
together with the strong society organized at Philadelphia 
a little later, made possible the organization of the Ameri- 
can Pomological Society, in 1849. It also made possible 
the publication of the Magazine of Horticulture, edited by 
C. M. Hovey for forty years, our most valuable single 
repository of horticulture. 

Hovey was led to undertake his work in strawberry 
breeding by the obvious lack of suitable varieties for 
culture in North America. Large Early Scarlet, Hudson's 
Bay, Early Hudson, Crimson Cone, and Methven Scarlet, 




Fig. 2. — CM. Hovey, orig 
inator of the Hovey straw 
berry. 



EARLY HISTORY 23 

together with Red Wood in the vicinity of Boston, comprised 
the Hst of commercial sorts. All were deficient in produc- 
tiveness, size and quality ; all, with the exception of Red 
Wood, had a very short fruiting season. A number of 
the improved varieties of the Pine, which then were being 
received with great acclaim in Europe, had been intro- 
duced and given a fair trial. In size and quality they were 
distinctly superior, but none, with the possible exception 
of Mulberry, gave promise of becoming valuable for 
general cultivation. They did not possess suflBcient 
stamina to endure the rigors of our climate. 

In 1834 Hovey made six hand crosses in his garden, 
clipping the anthers from the unopened flowers, and trans- 
ferring the pollen to the receptive pistils with a cameFs 
hair brush, in the most approved fashion of today. Like 
many another plant breeder, Hovey was so unfortunate 
as to lose his labels, so that he never knew positively which 
cross produced his famous seedling. The loss of labels 
was a far greater misfortune than Hovey could have 
imagined. If the real parentage of the Hovey were known, 
it would do much to clear up present doubts concerning 
the botanical origin of the North American strawberry. 
This is discussed more fully in Chapter III. Boston Pine, 
the only other variety introduced by Hovey, was produced 
in the same lot of seedlings, and was supposed by him to 
be Grove End Scarlet X Keens' Seedling. It was grown 
to some extent near Boston for pollinating the Hovey, 
but did not become prominent. 

The first novelty. — Hovey first exhibited his seedling 
before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1838. 
It created a furore. The fruit was much larger and more 
attractive than any variety known, while the productive- 
ness of the plants, as grown in the garden of the originator, 



24 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

was said to be phenomenal. It was acclaimed the "per- 
fect'' strawberry, for which America long had been waiting. 
Hovey was editor of the only horticultural journal on the 
continent and an acknowledged authority on the subject ; 
he was also a practical nurseryman. Hence he was in a 
better position to profit by his seedling than most originators 




Fig. 3. — The Hovey strawberry, the first variety of any fruit originated 
in North America by definite plant breeding. 

of valuable varieties have been since then. In 1840, and 
for several years thereafter, plants of the Hovey sold for 
$5.00 a dozen. It quickly was disseminated to all parts 
of the continent where strawberries were grown. It was 
quoted on the Boston market in 1841 at fifty cents a quart, 
which was twice the price received for any other sort. 
The Hovey was received with enthusiasm. Coming 



EARLY HISTORY 25 

from such an eminent source, accompanied by the un- 
quahfied endorsement of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society, — the center of authority in horticultural matters 
at that time, — it was natural that much should be 
expected of the new variety. This was the first experience 
of the American public with the modest claims of an 
originator; its first baptism with the fervid oratory that 
heralds the introduction of a novelty. 

Unsatisfactory results with the Hovey. — These great 
expectations were realized only in part. The Hovey was 
a failure as a commercial variety except in the vicinity 
of Boston, where it was a prominent market sort until 
1860, and in a few other places. Like most of the other 
varieties of that period with pine blood, it required high 
culture and was tender, and it did not make enough plants. 
Part of the unsatisfactory results with the Hovey, during 
the first few years after its introduction, were due to the 
fact that it was pistillate variety. After the necessity 
for planting it with a pollen-bearing variety became gen- 
erally known, about 1846, it gained somewhat in favor, 
but it did not displace Large Early Scarlet, Hudson's 
Bay, Early Hudson and Crimson Cone in any large market 
except Boston. After 1848 it was rarely quoted on the 
market of any other city. 

Although the Hovey was a great disappointment as a 
market variety, it quickly became the most popular sort 
for the home garden, on account of its superiority in 
size, attractiveness and quality. It was distinctly an 
amateur variety. For years it captured most of the 
prizes at the strawberry exhibitions, then so popular. 
Apparently the Hovey passed out of cultivation about 
1890, but possibly it may be found still in some of the 
gardens near Boston. 



26 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

A new interest in plant breeding. — Our debt to the orig- 
inator of the Hovey is not so much for the merit of the 
variety itself as for the stimulus that it gave to the breed- 
ing of new varieties of strawberries and other fruits. It 
was the first important North American variety. Until 
then we had been content to depend upon Europe for 
varieties, and most of these had failed. The financial 
reward that Hovey received from the sale of his seedling, 
no less than the excellence of the variety itself, fired the 
imagination and stirred the efforts of fruit growers every- 
where. All over the country men began to make crosses 
and to grow seedlings. Alexander Ross, of Hudson, New 
York, originated the Ross' Phoenix, which became a popular 
commercial variety in the East. John Burr, of Columbus, 
Ohio, produced Burr's New Pine, a notable variety in its 
time. Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, Ohio, made 
it possible for his tenant to produce the McAvoy's Superior 
and the Longworth ; the latter still is a standard market 
sort in California. Dr. Brinkle, of Philadelphia, is re- 
ported to have raised and described seventy varieties, but 
only two of these are on record. Robert Buist, of Phil- 
adelphia, and many others, took a share in what was then 
the great lottery of nature. In 1846 a committee of the 
Cincinnati Horticultural Society listed forty varieties as 
worthy of cultivation; eighteen of these were of North 
American origin. 

It was inevitable that in this first rush of enthusiasm 
many worthless and wholly untried seedlings should be 
named and introduced. William Robert Prince, who in- 
troduced over fifty varieties, all worthless, was the most 
conspicuous offender. We are still trying to live down the 
habit acquired then of introducing seedlings without 
first ascertaining whether they are distinct from existing 



EARLY HISTORY 27 

sorts, and whether they will give satisfaction anywhere 
except on the grounds of the originator. The introduction 
of the Hovey marked the emancipation of our horticulture 
from that of the Old World, and the beginning of North 
American plant breeding. 

Extension of Commekcial Culture, 1838-1854 

In the sixteen years between the introduction of the 
Hovey and the introduction of the Wilson, there was a 
considerable extension of the strawberry industry, espe- 
cially in the territory tributary to Cincinnati, New York 
and Baltimore. The greatest progress was made at 
Cincinnati; between 1845 and 1849 it was the leading 
strawberry market of the country. In 1848 Charles 
Cist recorded the quantity marketed in Cincinnati at 
that time : 

"In 1846, 4200 bushels. 

In 1847, 4576 bushels. 

In 1848, 4965 bushels. 

"To this should be added large quantities sent off by 
railroads. I should put down the entire product of the 
strawberry in 1847 at 6500 bushels, and in 1848 at 7000 
bushels." ^ He informs us that these berries were raised 
on "not over 250 acres," which would make the aver- 
age yield 896 quarts an acre; and that "the biggest indi- 
vidual acreage was 60 acres, in three fields, owned by a 
Mr. Culbertson." The Horticulturist records that this 
"Strawberry King sent to the market of Cincinnati, in 
a single day, four thousand quarts of strawberries. He 
employs sixty hands in gathering them." ^ The berries 

1 U. S. Patent Office Report, 1848, pp. 609-17. 

2 The Horticulturist, 1847, p. 95. 



28 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

were hulled before they were marketed, and were sold 
loose, by the quart, peck or bushel, as needed. 

This was an almost unbelievable quantity of straw- 
berries, and should have made the "King'' rich. But 
the law of supply and demand seems to have been working 
as smoothly then, as now, for A. J. Downing reports, 
"The price received by the Cincinnati growers in 1847 
was an average of six cents a quart — the largest and 
cheapest supply known in any city of the world." ^ In 
1848, according to Cist, "Prices opened at 20-25 cents 
for a day or two, soon fell to 10-15 cents, and then to 3-4 
cents. The season's sales will not average higher than 7 
cents unless the season itself has proved unfavorable. 
I know of no year in which strawberries have averaged 
as high as 10 cents per quart." This has a familiar ring 
to the berry growers of today. About one half of the 
strawberries raised near Cincinnati at that time were 
Early Hudson ; most of the remainder were Old Scarlet, 
Necked Pine and Hovey. 

Near New York. — Notwithstanding the greater public- 
ity given to strawberry production near Cincinnati, New 
York, then a city of over 300,000, rapidly was becoming 
the greatest strawberry market in the world, as it is today. 
It no longer was obliged to depend upon the meager supply 
of " Hackensacks, " brought twice a week in sailing sloops, 
wind and tide permitting, or ferried across the river at 
Hoboken. The era of railroad transportation had begun. 
Strawberries now were coming from points in New Jersey 
and New York which had been wholly inaccessible a few 
years previous. On June 20, 1847, one train on the Erie 
Railroad carried 26,667 quarts of strawberries into New 
York. By 1849, " In 26 days, 4572 bushels of strawberries 
1 The Horiicvlturist, 1848, p. 25. 



EARLY HISTORY 29 

were sold in New York. Over 80,000 baskets, equal to 
833 bushels, were brought to the city in one day by the 
Erie Railroad alone. The average value was 3 cents per 
basket." ^ As the baskets held but a third of a quart, 
the price received was about nine cents a quart. This is 
about the average price received now, but nine cents then 
represented more profit than now. 

In 1849, S. B. Parsons stated that the strawberry crop 
was "very profitable, particularly where irrigation can be 
obtained. Nearly 5000 bushels are every season sold in 
the city of New York, and to the cultivator the profit is 
enormous." ^ 

In the South. — Important centers of strawberry pro- 
duction were beginning to develop in the South, creeping 
farther and farther down the Atlantic coast, in response 
to the demand for earlier and still earlier berries. The 
reverse operation — shipping northern berries to the 
South — was reported as feasible by Nicholas Longworth, 
in 1852. He said, "The plan of shipping them to New 
Orleans, packed in ice, has just commenced, and may 
eventually become an important branch of the business, 
as they can be carried down in a week by our regular 
packets." Very little came of this enterprise, however; 
even now the current of trade is almost wholly from South 
to North. 

Anne Arundel County, Maryland, which supplied the 
Baltimore and Philadelphia markets, then was the most 
important strawberry district in the South ; it had over 250 
acres about 1850. These were mostly Large Early Scarlet, 
Hart and Stewart, all varieties of F. mrginiana. By 1857 
this county had " some 600 acres of land planted to straw- 

1 The Horticulturist, 1849, p. 102. 

2 Trans. New Haven County Hort. Soc, 1849, p. 13. 



30 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

berries within a neighborhood of a few square miles, and 
producing scarcely less than twenty thousand biLshels/' 
says the astounded Horticulturist} The "Strawberry 
King" of that section was Rezen Hammond, who had about 
100 acres of this fruit. Anne Arundel berries went as 
far north as Philadelphia, but not to New York. In 1859 
Thomas Meehan reported, "The freight train from Balti- 
more to Philadelphia on the night of the 7th of June brought 
upwards of 60,000 boxes." ^ 

Condition of Strawberry Culture Before the 
Introduction of the Wilson 

The introduction of the Hovey had done much to raise 
the standard of size, quality and appearance for amateur 
varieties, but the standard for market berries remained 
practically unchanged until the introduction of the 
Wilson. A " great yield of strawberries " was noted by the 
New England Farmer, in 1840, "eight bushels and three 
pecks being picked from ten square rods of Methven 
Scarlet, which sold for $77.00." In 1844 Thomas Bridge- 
man related that Jesse Buell, of Albany, New York, bragged 
extensively because he had " picked a pailful that morning 
of Methven Scarlet strawberries which had an average 
circumference of three inches each; and sixty-three of 
them, divested of the calyx, weighed a pound." In 1847 
the average yield to the acre near Cincinnati was 896 
quarts and the average price six cents a quart. This 
does not look particularly attractive now. Before the 
introduction of the Wilson the average yield was about 
forty bushels an acre, which is 500 quarts an acre 

1 The Horticulturist, 1857, p. 388. 
1 Gardeners' Monthly, 1859, p. 106. 



EARLY HISTORY 31 

below the average at the present time. In 1849 A. J. 
Downing asserted "One hundred bushels per acre fre- 
quently are grown here by market gardeners." Ten years 
later, the Secretary of the Cincinnati Horticultural 
Society reported, "The best yield of the Hovey upon our 
best virgin forest soil is from forty to fifty bushels per acre. 
The profits of the Hovey under the best circumstances 
are from $100 to $120 an acre, clear of all expenses." ^ 

Another view of strawberry economics at that period is 
afforded in a report by John C. Youtcy of Cincinnati, 
in 1855. He says i^ " I had two acres of Early Washington 
which produced 60 bushels and sold for $425 ; ^ve acres 
of Hovey which produced 178 bushels and sold for $1260 ; 
three acres of Hudson which produced 102 bushels and 
sold for $530. The gross receipts from ten acres were 
$2210. The expense of picking including boarding of 
hands was $225 and the expense of marketing was $75. 
The probable cost of cultivation per annum was $15 an 
acre." Although the average price in the New York 
market was about nine cents a quart, fancy fruit brought 
a premium. " Fruit of high flavor, " says Pardee, " meas- 
uring from three to four inches in circumference, will com- 
mand fifty cents per quart in New York or any other 
market." 

Varieties. — Practically all the berries marketed, except 
in Boston, were varieties of F. mrginiana, which accounts 
for the small size. Here and there the larger and more 
fastidious Hovey and English varieties of the Pine were 
grown for a select trade by the initiated, but in a very 
limited way. About 1853, William Cammack, an English 
gardener near Washington, D. C, achieved more than a 
local reputation growing British Queen and Victoria 

1 The Horticulturist, 1859, p. 385. 2 ji^i^,^ 1855, p. 366. 



32 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Ovata. His best berries sold in Washington and Balti- 
more for seventy-five cents a quart when common stock 
brought ten or twelve cents a quart.^ Pine varieties, 
however, including the Hovey, formed but a very small 
part of the strawberries brought to market. Excluding 
the wild berries, it is likely that over ninety per cent of 
the strawberries marketed before 1858, when the Wilson 
came rushing to the front, were pure varieties of F. 
mrginiana, chiefly Large Early Scarlet, Hudson's Bay, 
Early Hudson, Crimson Cone and Methven Scarlet. 
Stimulating effect of the 'pollination discussion. — The 
leadership in strawberry production attained by Cin- 
cinnati, about 1845, was due largely to the earlier accept- 
ance by the growers of that neighborhood of the proposi- 
tion that pistillate varieties must be inter-planted with 
staminate sorts in order to be most productive. Until 
the introduction of the Hovey, no attention had been 
given to the subject of pollination by North American 
growers, although the necessity for mixed planting had 
been pointed out years before. The subject was first 
brought prominently before the public by Nicholas 
Longworth, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The controversy over 
"Longworth's Theory," from 1842 to 1848 ^ had a most 
stimulating effect on strawberry culture, wholly aside 
from the greater certainty that resulted in the cultivation 
of pistillate varieties. It set people to thinking and 
investigating for themselves, instead of blindly accepting 
the opinions of authorities. Hundreds of voluntary ob- 
servations and experiments on cross-pollination were 
reported in the horticultural press while "the strawberry 
question," as it was called, was before the public. There 

1 Rept. Ind. Hort. Soc, 1898, p. 70. 

2 See Chapter III for a full discussion of this subject. 



EARLY HISTORY 33 

was a general questioning of methods, and a searching for 
cause and effect, which prepared the way for the remark- 
able extension of commercial planting that followed the 
introduction of the Wilson. 

The close of this period, in 1854, found commercial 
strawberry culture well extablished in the vicinity of Boston, 
New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Cincinnati, with 
scattered plantings in a few outlying districts, notably in 
western New York. Only a meager beginning had been 
made; most people still knew only the wild berry. 
"Strawberries are quite commonly cultivated by private 
gentlemen," said Chauncey E. Goodrich of Utica, New 
York, in 1853, " and they make very iSne displays of this 
fruit at our occasional city fairs. But the pubUc supply 
is mostly from the fields, where they are gathered growing 
spontaneously." ^ "Only thirty years since," said Parker 
Earle of Cobden, Illinois, in 1887, "the growing of straw- 
berries for market was confined to a few gardeners in the vi- 
cinity of half a dozen of our larger cities, and means of trans- 
portation consisted mostly of the market wagon. A few 
hundred wealthy gentlemen, who had had some country 
places and kept professional gardeners, grew this luxurious 
berry for their own tables; and a few market gardeners 
for market. Outside of this limited culture most of the 
people of the country knew nothing about the strawberry 
except what they had gleaned from the fragrant hillsides, 
where nature had planted them with the daisies and butter- 
cups." 2 

It is probable that the total quantity of cultivated 
strawberries marketed in 1854 did not exceed 40,000 
bushels. If the average yield was thirty bushels to the 

1 U. S. Patent Office Rept., 1853, p. 314. 

2 Rural New Yorker, 1887, p. 128. 

D 



34 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

acre, which was considered good at that time, the total 
area under commercial cultivation was less than 1400 
acres, which is one fourth of the present acreage in Sussex 
county, Delaware. The cultivated strawberry was still 
a fruit for the wealthy amateur; it had not yet become 
a fruit for the millions. 



CHAPTER II 

THE RISE OF COMMERCIAL STRAWBERRY- 
GROWING 

The variety which was to transform the commercial 
culture of the strawberry in North America from an insig- 
nijficant industry, occupying less than 1500 acres, to an in- 
dustry requiring 150,000 acres, and wonderfully popularize 
its culture in the home garden, was born near Albany, 
New York, in 1851. In that year James Wilson, a Scotch 
gardener who had a small nursery business near Albany, 
sowed seeds of the Hovey, Black Prince and Ross' Phoenix, 
all popular garden varieties at that time. Both Black 
Prince and Ross' Phoenix were Pines, the former a seedling 
of Keens' Imperial, and a direct descendant of the origi- 
nal Pineapple strawberry ; the latter a seedling of Keens' 
Seedling. The seeds were the result of natural pollina- 
tion ; no hand crossing was done. The parentage of the 
Wilson, therefore, is a matter of speculation. James 
Wilson was confident that his famous seedling was Hovey 
X Black Prince, and this opinion was shared by A. S. 
Fuller. 

Only one of the seedlings showed promise. At a meet- 
ing of the Albany and Rensselaer Horticultural Society, 
held at Albany on June 22, 1853, "James Wilson exhibited 
a new seedling strawberry." ^ Apparently it did not at- 
1 Mag. Hort., 1853, p. 419. 
35 



36 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

tract attention, as there was no further comment on it 
that year. The following summer James Wilson showed 
a number of potted plants of his seedling, each laden with 
fruit. There was no lack of appreciation then. In the 
words of a current publication, "Such was the size and 
number of the berries upon each plant that people were 
astonished, curiosity was excited, and public attention 
was aroused to an examination of the claims of this new 
strawberry." It was then named Wilson's Albany. 

James Wilson was a nurseryman, so he must have real- 
ized the value of his seedling and the profit that might 
be derived by keeping it himself for exclusive propagation 
and sale ; yet he generously divided his stock of plants 
with his neighbors. Two years later, w^hen demands for 
plants began to pour in, he had fewer plants to sell than 
some of his neighbors, and realized very little profit. He 
died in 1855, leaving the nursery to his son, John Wilson, 
who continued to propagate the Wilson strawberry for 
several years. James Wilson was an unassuming man, 
who unselfishly declined to take advantage of an oppor- 
tunity for private gain. Granville Cowing has declared, 
"The fruit growers and fruit consumers of this country 
owe him a debt far greater than many that have been 
paid in costly monuments of bronze and marble." 

The Sway of the Wilson 

Save in the vicinity of Boston, the stronghold of the 
Hovey, the Wilson was hailed everywhere as the greatest 
of market varieties. The rapidity with which it sup- 
planted other varieties was remarkable, especially since 
no effort was made to bring it to public notice. It was not 
exploited by the originator or introducer, as was the 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 37 

Hovey, but won recognition on its merits. At that time 
the leading commercial varieties were Large Early Scar- 
let, Hudson's Bay, Early Hudson, Crimson Cone and 
Hovey. In 1852 the American Pomological Society, 
then composed largely of amateurs who were more 
insistent upon quality than commercial growers, recom- 
mended Boston Pine, Hovey, Jenny's Seedling and Large 
Early Scarlet as "worthy of general cultivation." Six 
years later, four years after, the Wilson was introduced, 
it had so firmly established itself that the Fruit Growers' 
Association of Western New York (now the Western New 
York Horticultural Society), took a vote upon "the best 
market variety" with this result : 

Large Early Scarlet 8 

Crimson Cone 7 

Wilson's Albany 7 

Hovey 4 

The same year the American Pomological Society added 
it to the list of varieties recommended for general culti- 
vation. By 1861 it had largely superseded all other sorts 
for market purposes, although the Hovey and Large Early 
Scarlet persisted for some years, the former near Boston, 
the latter in western New York, where it vied with Wilson 
as late as 1864. The Wilson completely dominated the 
markets of the United States and Canada from 1860 to 
1880. In 1872 W. C. Flagg estimated, "In the United 
States, the Wilson composes ninety per cent or more of 
the strawberries in cultivation." After 1880 the Wilson 
was gradually supplanted by a succession of varieties, 
beginning with Crescent and Sharpless, followed by 
Cumberland Triumph, Charles Downing, Miner's Prolific^ 
Haverland and Bubach, down to the more numerous 
prominent varieties of today. It still is grown somewhat, 



38 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

particularly in Canada and the Pacific Northwest. The 
Wilson is unique among North American varieties in the 
complete ascendancy that it gained over all other sorts and 
held, practically undisputed, for a quarter of a century. 

There was one section of the country, however, that per- 
sistently and consistently refused to see any virtue in the 
Wilson. This was the vicinity of Boston, most conserva- 
tive of towns and the home of the Hovey. The origina- 
tor of that notable variety appears to have considered it a 
personal affront that any other sort should be proposed 
for first honors. In 1860, after the Wilson already was 
firmly established in public favor, Hovey fervently de- 
clared, " Wilson's Albany has fruited with us this year in 
fine condition, and has come fully up to our expectations 
as one of the sourest, most dirty colored, and most disagree- 
able flavored of all recently introduced sorts — an ex- 
cellent sort to make vinegar of. Besides, it is soft, watery, 
unfit for carriage, has a very large calyx, and is hollow 
at the core." ^ To this damning indictment his neigh- 
bors in the Massachusetts Horticultural Society loyally 
gave assent, voting unanimously, "The Wilson's Albany 
is unfit for general cultivation," and Marshall O. Wilder 
declared he " would as soon eat a turnip as a Wilson straw- 
berry." This ought to have killed it. Fruit growers, 
however, were beginning to learn that the reputation of a 
variety cannot be made or marred by the pronouncement 
of any individual or Society, however high an authority, 
and kept on growing the Wilson. Boston never ceased 
to look upon the Wilson with a jaundiced eye. When 
her sons journeyed southward in 1861, and were forced 
by dire hunger to partake of the despised fruit, one of the 
survivors declared, "The Wilson strawberry killed more 
1 Mag. HorL, July, 1860, p. 307. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 39 

Boston men during the war than Confederate bullets." 
From a safe perspective of years, this assertion appears to 
be a trifle exaggerated. 

Good 'points and objectionable features of the Wilson. — 
The immediate and long-continued popularity of the 
Wilson was due to the fact that it was dependable. It 
produced large crops of attractive fruit, even under in- 
different care. Unlike the Hovey and the Pines, it 
did not require high culture, and it was much superior in 
productiveness, size and appearance to Large Early Scar- 
let, and other common varieties of the Scarlet. It was 
very firm, and could be shipped to distant markets under 
the trying conditions of transportation and marketing 
that prevailed then. It was bisexual, so that the trouble- 
some problem of pollination was eliminated. In short, 
the Wilson simplified the cultivation of the strawberry. 
Not until then had it been possible for every one to grow 
strawberries, the poor as well as the rich. It did not re- 
quire the services of a professional gardener. The straw- 
berry now became, in fact, a fruit for the millions. 

Even the best friends of the Wilson, however, had to 
admit that it was sour. Holding a brief for the consuming 
public, Henry Ward Beecher once spoke feelingly on this 
point : " I shall not feel easy in my mind till I have had my 
say about the Wilson's Albany. This vixenish berry is 
enough to turn a horticulturist's heart against his kind. 
It is the wickedest berry that was ever indulged with 
liberty. It is an invention by which the producers make 
money out of the consumer's misery. It has every qual- 
ity of excellence except in the matter of eating. It bears 
prodigal crops of large-sized fruit, and is unfailingly sure. 
Now, is it not a thousand pities that such a berry should 
be of a nature so acid as to be a perfect virago among 



40 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

strawberries ? It might live in a sugar bowl, and be acerb 
and crabbed still. It vexes me to pass by the fruit stands 
and see boxes and baskets of Wilson's Seedling outnumber- 
ing all others, and so large, plump, rich in color, and 
tempting that, with all my knowledge of its worthlessness, 
I am still tempted to buy. Let a man chew the rind of 
a shattuck, and imagine that it is an orange ; let him eat 
cranberries, and call them sugar plums ; and then let him 
eat Wilson's Seedling, and say, 'I have eaten strawberries.' 
I call upon the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals to unite with me, and with all rational beings, 
in suppressing the Wilson's Albany Seedling Strawberry." 
But the Wilson refused to be suppressed. 

Competitors of the Wilson. — The Wilson held almost 
undisputed sway as a commercial variety for about 
twenty years. Many claimants for fame arose and were 
introduced with the customary and apparently inevitable 
sounding of trumpets ; but none achieved more than local 
popularity. The various state horticultural societies had 
heated discussions on the question, "Is there a better 
strawberry than the Wilson," and invariably decided in 
the negative. About 1872 the Charles Downing, w^hich 
had been introduced in 1867 at SI. 00 a plant, began to 
find favor in some quarters. It held high rank as a 
commercial variety until 1890. Four notable varieties, 
the Cresent, Sharpless, Cumberland Triumph and Miner's 
Prolific, were introduced between 1874 and 1877. 

The only variety that really challenged the Wilson was 
the Crescent, which was introduced in 1876. By that time 
the Wilson had begun to lose some of its pristine vigor and 
productiveness. There was widespread complaint that 
it had begun to "run out," although a few skillful growers, 
notably J. IM. Smith of Green Bay, Wisconsin, cultivated 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 41 

it for many years thereafter with marked success. The 
time was ripe for the introduction of a new variety, equally 
cosmopolitan and tolerant of indifferent culture. The 
markets wanted a change from the Wilson. The Crescent 
met the situation. It was one of the most productive vari- 
eties grown up to that time. It was earlier than Wilson, 
which was more of an advantage then than now. Al- 
though smaller than Wilson, softer, more poorly colored, 
and even more inferior in quality, the markets took kindly 
to it for many years. The chief claim of the Crescent 
upon popular favor was that it thrived everywhere with a 
minimum of effort. It was frankly introduced as " the lazy 
man's berry," especially designed for members of the " No 
Sweat Club," and fully merited this enticing description. 

The introduction of the Crescent gave a decided impetus 
to strawberry planting. As it was a pistillate, it was nec- 
essary to grow a staminate sort with it ; Wilson, Cumber- 
land Triumph, Sharpless and Miner's Prolific were com- 
monly used. The Sharpless, introduced in 1877, was the 
first of the very large-fruited varieties that could be pro- 
duced without special difficulty by the commercial grower. 
Although not as productive as Crescent, it became a stand- 
ard sort at once because of its size and beauty. When 
the markets began to tire of Crescent, about 1890, Haver- 
land, Gandy and Bubach came to the front. 

Three varieties never again can dominate the markets 
as did Wilson, Crescent and Sharpless between 1858 and 
1895. These are the great triumvirate of North American 
varieties. Conclusive proof of this is furnished by the 
parentage records of North American varieties ; two thirds 
of all the varieties produced since 1858 of which the 
parents are known have in them the blood of one or more 
of these three. 



42 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Boom Days. — The introduction of the Wilson immedi- 
ately was followed by a revival of interest among amatem-s, 
and by a tremendous increase in commercial planting. 
Nearly every fruit grown in North American has had at 
least one great boom period, when, through some favoring 
circumstance, the market demand far exceeded the 
supply, and prices of both fruit and plantations went 
skyrv^ard. It has been so with the prune, orange, pomelo 
and apple ; it was so with the strawberry. The " Straw- 
berry Fever," as it was called, swept the country between 
1858 and 1870. It reached its climax about 1865; even 
the exhausting Civil War did not distract the strawberry 
enthusiasts of the North, where most of this planting 
occurred. Strawberries commonly sold for thirty to 
forty cents a quart, and profits of $1000 an acre were not 
unusual. In 1861 Joseph Harris, editor of the Genesee 
Farmer, visited Bloomington, Illinois, and found Wilson 
strawberries selling at fifteen cents a quart, and corn at 
eight cents a bushel.^ People who had never before grown 
strawberries, or any other kind of fruit — merchants, 
grain and stock farmers, professional men — rushed into 
the strawberry business. The warning of Patrick Barry, 
and other cool heads, "This planting spirit has appeared 
to some as a sort of speculative mania, and the idea has 
suggested itself that the country soon will be overstocked," 
was disregarded. There were numerous discussions in the 
various state horticultural societies as to whether straw- 
berry growing was not being "overdone," but these pro- 
duced no appreciable diminution in the planting. Ama- 
teurs, as well as professionals, caught the craze. The 
annual "Strawberry Festival," first held at Belmont, 
Massachusetts, about 1858, spread over the country. 
1 The Cultivator, 1861, p. 288. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 43 

Strawberry exhibitions, introduced by the Massachusetts 
Horticultural Society about 1848, were held everywhere. 
The inevitable reaction came about 1870. In the east- 
ern cities, prices declined sharply to three or four cents a 
quart, which was below the cost of production. Hundreds 
of carloads were dumped into the Hudson River. Large 
fields, heavily loaded with fruit, were plowed under. The 
rapid extension of transportation facilities after the Civil 
War, which made it possible to market fruit from distant 
points, contributed largely to the decline in prices. Many 
lost heavily, especially those who had gone into the busi- 
ness merely as a speculation. In some places prices held 
up fairly well ; but the years from 1870 to about 1885 are 
recalled by veteran growers as the "slump" period of 
North American strawberry-growing, during which the 
relations between supply and demand were re-adjusted, 
and methods of lowering the cost of production developed. 

Contrasting Methods of Culture, Yields and 
Prices 

The center of intensive strawberry culture long had 
been the vicinity of Boston. There strawberry growing 
had developed largely as an adjunct to market gardening. 
The plants were grown close together in narrow, raised 
beds and were heavily manured, highly tilled, and kept in 
hills. Varieties of high quality were grown, such as the 
Hovey, Mulberry and other Pines. These made but a 
moderate growth of runners and so were easily confined 
to hills. This system of culture had been introduced from 
Europe ; it was the common method throughout the East 
at the time of the introduction of the Wilson. 

Field culture at Cincinnati. — Field culture of the 



44 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

strawberry, on an extensive rather than intensive scale, 
as we know it today, began about 1840, at Cincinnati. 
The varieties chiefly gro^n there, — Early Hudson, 
Necked Pine, and other varieties of the Scarlet, were ex- 
ceedingly prolific of runners, and hence did not lend them- 
selves as readily to intensive culture and hill training 
as the Pines. About 1850, there w^ere 250 acres under 
field culture in Anne Arundel County, Maryland ; Large 
Early Scarlet, Hart and Stew^art, all varieties of the 
Scarlet, were groT\Ti. The planting of strawberries in rows 
far enough apart to be cultivated with a horse was first 
advocated about 1854, by Patrick Barry. This method 
was quickly adopted in western New York for Large Early 
Scarlet and Wilson. 

The controversy between the exponents of intensive, 
or market garden culture, and the exponents of extensive, 
or field culture, was as vehement and as futile then as 
today. The two ideals are admirably portrayed in the 
reports of a committee of the Ohio Pomological Society, 
which met at Cincinnati in the spring of 1865 "to examine 
the great fields of that region, including the near-by 
hills of Kentucky, where the old fashioned method of cul- 
tivating this delicious fruit was exhibited." ^ Although 
admitting that this method "had furnished large results 
in the grand aggregate of production," the committee was 
not able to recommend it, and reported on it "only as a 
matter of historic interest." Following is the description 
of the Cincinnati method as reported by this committee : 
"A piece of rich land, so heavily timbered as to be free 
from grass, weeds and under-growth, was selected, cleared 
and broken up. In the spring it was planted with straw- 
berries, in rows three or four feet apart ; corn was fre- 
1 Rept. Ohio Pom. Soc, 1865, pp. 126-7. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 45 

quently put into the same rows, and some cultivation 
given. In the fall the corn was harvested and any large 
weeds cut down. The next season a fair crop of very fine 
fruit was gathered and the runners were allowed to spread 
over the ground. In some cases a single cultivation was 
given in the spring. As the weeds made their appearance, 
they were cut down with a scythe and left upon the ground, 
and by the end of the summer the runners would have 
covered the surface completely, so the field was well 
stocked with plants. 

"The next crop was a heavy one, except where the 
plants had become too thickly set. After this the in- 
crease of runners would soon make the patch too thick 
and some measures were necessary to reduce their num- 
bers. A heavy harrow, dragged across the field when the 
ground was soft, was the means commonly used for thin- 
ning the crop, and this treatment was generally followed 
by another heavy yield of fruit. After this the crops were 
found to be lighter ; the plants, being thus crowded to- 
gether, could not be so productive, and by this time the 
natural growth of bluegrass and white clover was found 
to make rapid inroads upon the strawberries, and the 
fruit diminished in value, so that it was considered more 
profitable to break up the ground and apply it to other 
crops. Some would allow the strawberries to remain 
struggling for supremacy a few years longer, and would 
continue to gather light crops of fruit from among the 
grass, until it was no longer doubtful which was the legit- 
imate occupant of the soil." 

Market garden culture at Pittsburgh. — By way of contrast 
with this crude field culture, which was useful, no doubt 
under these conditions, compare the intensive culture prac- 
ticed by others at that time, as reported by the same com- 



46 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

mittee, after a visit to the farm of John Knox, Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania. "The ground is deeply plowed and sub- 
soiled twice in the autumn, and again deeply stirred in the 
spring before planting. The plants are set about a foot 
apart, in rows that are eighteen inches wide ; three rows 
constitute a bed, when a space of two feet and a half is 
left between the beds. The beds are kept perfectly clear 
by hand culture, during the entire season, so as to encour- 
age their utmost growth and the result in the autumn 
is a continuous mass of foliage. This is not merely the 
result of thorough preparation of the soil and clean culture 
during the season, but should also be attributed to the 
effect of constant summer pruning, or the removal of all 
runners, which constitute the wood growth of the straw- 
berry plant and which exhaust the original stock if allowed 
to remain. On the contrary, if persistently cut back as 
soon as they appear the plants are rendered stocky and 
produce a number of points or fruit spurs, making what 
gardeners call a stool, having many crowns in each plant. 
This your committee consider one of the main causes of 
the wonderful fruiting they have witnessed upon these 
grounds." ^ 

Of the remarkable fruit produced by this intensive cul- 
ture the committee reported : ^ "On most of the plants 
there were ten to twelve ripe berries, suflScient to fill a 
quart measure. Mr. Knox informs us that he realizes 
sixty cents per quart after shipping the fruit 400 miles. 
Many suppose his success is owing to expensive culture and 
high manuring. Such is not the case. The plants while 
young receive timely and careful tillage. He covers lightly 
with straw in the winter and mulches heavily in summer." 

1 Rept. Ohio Pom. Soc, 1867, pp. 11-14. 

2 Ibid., 1869, p. 14. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 47 

John Knox claimed an average yield of 300 bushels an 
acre. In 1860 he said, "Some varieties, the past season, 
yielded as high as 600 bushels per acre/^ ^ We might 
be inclined to doubt these assertions, were they not sup- 
ported by unimpeachable authority. Evidently Thomas 
Meehan, editor of the Gardeners^ Monthly ^ and a most 
conservative horticulturist, was carried away by what he 
saw at the Knox Fruit Farm, for he wrote, "The size of 
these berries was the largest that anyone ever saw, and 
might easily be mistaken by a near-sighted observer for 
tomatoes. While I left strawberries selling in Philadel- 
phia at ten cents per quart, and hardly salable at that, they 
were being shipped from here to all parts of the East for 
$1.00 per quart for the first choice, and fifty cents for all 
that were left." Ten years later The Horticulturist re- 
ported : 2 " Rev. John Knox of Pittsburgh succeeded in 
making his land devoted to the Jucunda strawberry pay 
from $1200 to $1500 an acre, and frequently sold fancy 
berries at the rate of one dollar per quart. These quart 
baskets often held but eighteen berries. From two 
and one half acres last year, he realized $3600 net. 
He estimated his cost of production as about $200 an 
acre." 

Most of the Knox strawberries were an imported 
variety of which he had lost the label, so he called it 
"Knoxes 700." Being a nurseryman, as well as a straw- 
berry grower and preacher, John Knox was not averse 
to turning a thrifty penny, as we learn from the aggrieved 
William Parry, — himself a nurseryman : " For several 
years he refused to sell any of his stock of Knoxes 700 
until he had a very large quantity propagated. During 

1 Country Gentleman, 1861, p. 126. 

2 rj^^Q Horticulturist, 1871, p. 210. 



48 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

this time of suspense we were treated to reports of its 
sales in New York at sixty cents a pint, of ten berries 
each. Finally he put on the market a large stock at 
SlOO per thousand. It then turned out to be Jucunda." 
This variety had been widely tested some years before and 
discarded as worthless. It has been a standard variety 
under high culture ever since. 

John Knox was perhaps the most skilful strawberry 
cultivator this country has produced. He did more to 
demonstrate the possibilities of intensive or market gar- 
den culture of this fruit than any other man. For a 
number of years he held annual strawberry and grape 
exhibitions at his farm, which became the Mecca of 
horticulturists from all parts of the continent. The in- 
tensive methods now in vogue, and sometimes said to be 
of recent origin, do not differ materially from those 
practiced by him in 1865. He died in 1872. 

Yields and prices. — Results almost as gratifying were 
secured by the skilful market gardeners near Boston. 
In 1867 Marshall P. Wilder told the incredulous fruit 
growers of Missouri that he " disliked to make large state- 
ments, but it is no uncommon thing to produce 4000 
quarts per acre in the vicinity of Boston." A "wonder- 
ful yield" from a field of one and one half acres near 
Boston, planted with Lady of the Lake and Boston Pine, 
and trained in hills was reported in 1869:^ "The yield 
was 8,500 quarts and the fruit sold either on the spot or 
in Boston for 30 to 35 cents a quart. The net proceeds 
exceeded $2500. We venture to assert that no field of 
the same extent in any part of the country has produced 
like it or realized as much money." What probably is 
the record in net returns from a single acre was reported in 
1 The Southern Horticulturist, 1869, p. 187. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 49 

1870 : ^ "A grower near Philadelphia marketed 90 quarts 
from an acre and realized $3600 cash. We believe there is 
no instance on record of greater profits for a whole acre." 

These were very exceptional yields and prices. The 
average commercial grower, then as now, had to be content 
with very moderate returns. Between 1865 and 1870 
the West Jersey Fruit Growers' Association gathered data 
on yields and prices in its territory. The summary showed 
that the average yield was sixty bushels and the average 
selling price $3.50 a bushel.^ This is not far from present 
conditions, either as to yield or price. "The premium 
crop in Burlington County, N. J. for 1870 was 253 bushels 
per acre which yielded over $1000.00 profit."^ The 
yield of J. M. Smith, Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1875, long 
stood as the record under field conditions. He said : 
"I measured off an exact quarter of an acre of Wilson, 
picked the fruit by itself, and kept a careful account 
of the different pickings. The result was 3,571 quarts, 
or at a rate of 446|- bushels (14,284 quarts) per acre." ^ 

Special cultural methods. — Before the extension of rail- 
roads and the introduction of refrigerator cars had made it 
possible to secure early berries from the South, various 
special methods were used by northern growers to ripen 
berries ahead of the normal season. In 1724 Steven 
Switzer wrote that strawberries had been forced in hot- 
beds by London gardeners for many years. This method 
was quite common among North American amateurs from 
1820 to 1870. Another popular method was to enclose 
strong field plants with cold frames in November or 

1 The Horticulturist, 1870, p. 183. 

2 Rept. Ind. Hort. Soc, 1870. 

3 lUd., 1874, p. 135. 

4 Rept. Minn. Hort. Soc, 1887, p. 313. 



50 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

December and bank up the outside of the frame with 
soil, leaves or manure. After the plants were frozen they 
were mulched heavily and the frame covered with boards. 
In February or March the boards were replaced with hot- 
bed sash and the mulch removed after it had thawed. 
During severe weather and at night the plants were pro- 
tected with mats as well as sash; on warm days they 
were exposed to the air, especially when in blossom, so as 
to insure pollination. These plants ripened fruit ten to 
twenty days ahead of adjacent field plants. 

The "strawberry mound" was an elaborate scheme for 
ripening strawberries out of doors a few days ahead of the 
normal season. As described in 1859, it was round or 
oval, usually oval ; in which case it v^^as twelve feet wide 
at the base, and two and one half feet high.^ The sides 
sloped at an angle of forty-five degrees, making the mound 
two feet wide and six feet long at the top. After it had 
been shaped the mound was paved, sides and top, with 
brick, leaving spaces four inches square between each 
two bricks. These were filled with rich soil and the 
plants set in them. The berries ripened a week or ten 
days earlier than on field plants. The strawberry mound 
may have been "ornamental for the garden," as The Cul- 
tivator says, but it certainly required a prodigious amount 
of labor for a few early berries. About 1860 southern 
berries began to reach northern markets in considerable 
quantity and these methods were no longer practicable. 

Improvement in Transportation Facilities 

The merit of the Wilson was not the only factor in 
the remarkable expansion of strawberry growing imme- 
1 The Cultivator, 1859, p. 304. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 51 

diately following its introduction. The introduction of 
this variety happened to be coincident with the be- 
ginning of an era of unparalleled expansion in all directions, 
especially in transportation facilities. Railroads began 
to push across the country. They replaced the market 
wagon as well as the stage coach. Heretofore the cities 
had been almost wholly dependent upon the supply of 
strawberries that could be raised within driving distance. 
In a few seaboard markets, the local supply had been sup- 
plemented with strawberries brought by boat from more 
distant points. The advantages of water transportation 
had enabled the Atlantic cities, especially New York and 
Boston, to reach farther and farther down the coast for 
strawberries, beginning with New Jersey, passing on to 
the Chesapeake Bay region, and ending with Charleston 
and Savannah. Chicago had begun early to depend upon 
the Benton Harbor boat for a considerable supply. Most 
markets, however, had been restricted to home-grown 
berries. 

The immediate effect of railroad building was to extend 
the radius of territory that was available for producing 
the strawberry supply of a city from several miles to sev- 
eral hundred miles. By 1862 New York City received 
strawberries from Cincinnati. About 1865 the con- 
struction of the Delaware Railroad made the fields of the 
Delaware-Maryland peninsula accessible to northern 
markets. The building of the Illinois Central Railroad 
into southern Illinois, and later to the Gulf States, opened 
new strawberry-producing territory. Such has been the 
compelling power of both the metropolis of the East and 
the metropolis of the West, that a large proportion of the 
strawberry-producing territory on the continent has de- 
veloped along parallel lines, — one line extending south- 



52 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

ward from New York, down the Atlantic coast to Florida ; 
the other extending southward from Chicago, down the 
Mississippi Valley to the Gulf. The introduction of the 
Morse telegraph, in 1835, also was an important factor in 
the extension of commercial planting; large quantities 
of fruit as quickly perishable as the strawberry cannot 
be marketed to advantage on blind consignment. 

Competition from the South. — The extension of com- 
mercial planting in the South, following the introduction 
of the Wilson, was even greater than in the North. In 
the first edition of his "Fruits and Fruit Trees of Amer- 
ica," published in 1845, A. J. Downing declared, "The 
strawberry belongs properly to cold climates, and though 
well known, is of comparatively little value in the south 
of Europe." He could not have anticipated the situation 
today, when nearly 10,000 of the 14,553 carloads marketed 
in 1914 in car lots came from southern states ; and when 
some of our most productive and profitable plantations 
are found in the sub-tropical regions of southern Florida 
and southern California. The strawberry has proved to 
be the most tractable and adaptable of all fruits. Its 
low stature enables the northern horticulturist to protect 
it from extreme cold ; while its short season of growth en- 
ables the southern horticulturist to grow it in the warmest 
sub-tropical regions of the continent, since it can complete 
its growth during the cool season. 

Strawberries were grown successfully in the home 
gardens of the South from the earliest days of white 
occupation, especially in the vicinity of New Orleans, 
Charleston, and Augusta. There does not appear to 
have been any commercial culture of importance until 
about 1858, when Norfolk berries first reached northern 
markets in appreciable quantity. Chesapeake Bay and 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 53 

Charleston berries came in increasing quantity, and finally 
forced most northern growers to abandon the cultivation 
of early varieties and to depend upon midseason and late 
sorts. In 1 869, William Parry of Cinnaminson, New Jersey, 
who then was reputed the largest strawberry grower in 
the country, voiced his regret at this situation : ^ " We 
heretofore endeavored to get our berries to market as 
soon as possible, and the earliest varieties were preferred 
as most profitable ; but now we find we must change our 
course and select the best varieties ripening at a later 
date, as we cannot compete with the South in early fruits, 
with which the markets are now well supplied before we 
commence to send. Our early strawberries the fore part 
of June scarcely averaged ten cents per quart, which, after 
paying for picking, freight and commission, leaves but 
little for the grower ; while fine late strawberries were sold 
in the Philadelphia market on the 19th of June in large 
quantities at 35-50 cents per quart." 

By 1880, when the railroads had begun to pour great 
quantities of southern berries into northern markets, in 
addition to those received by boat, many northern growers 
were ready to abandon the business. In 1881 the Mas- 
sachusetts Horticultural Society held a special meeting 
to consider the problem, " How shall southern competition 
in the small fruit market be met?" Not being able to 
pass a law which would legislate their competitors out of 
business, the Society concluded to accept this counsel 
from Marshall P. Wilder : " Southern competition is not 
injurious but beneficial. We get strawberries from the 
South a month or six weeks before they are ripe here. It 
is an advantage to have these early fruits ; they create 
an appetite for our own when they are ripe. The pro- 
1 Amer. Jour. HorL, VI (1869), p. 65. 



64 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

longing of the season is very desirable." It is doubtful, 
however, if he would be equally sanguine as to the bene- 
ficial effect of this competition now, when southern berries 
appear on the Boston market in considerable quantity as 
early as January, and are offered very freely in March and 
April, two months before local berries are ripe. Probably 
he would feel that the appetite now is created much too 
early in the season to last, in full vigor, until the arrival 
of local berries. 

Ventilator cars and fruit-growers^ express. — The rapid 
extension of railroads between 1860 and 1875 stimulated 
large plantings at great distances from the markets. 
Many fields were a thousand miles from their market. 
When shipped by express in open crates, and later in ven- 
tilator cars, the berries from these distant points frequently 
spoiled in transit. Responding to pressm-e from the 
shippers, and much against the wishes of express companies, 
the railroads first attached ventilator cars to certain pas- 
senger trains ; later they put on special fast fruit trains, 
operating as nearly as possible on passenger schedule. 
In 1867 the Illinois Central Railroad put on the first fruit 
express train for strawberries, operating from Jonesboro 
and Cobden, in southern Illinois, to Chicago. The venti- 
lator car was provided with springs and an air brake, like 
a passenger coach. It had many barred openings for ven- 
tilation, covered with wire netting to keep out cinders. If 
the crates were loaded in such a w^ay as to secure a free 
circulation of air around them, the berries carried as well 
or better than by express, and the transportation charge 
was much less. Ventilator cars still are used for markets 
not over thirty-six hours distant. 

One of the most discouraging features of the business 
at that time was the frequency with which the strawberry 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 55 

trains arrived in the market late. The success of the 
enterprise then, as now, depended upon getting the berries 
into market in time for the early morning trade. Berries 
shipped in ventilator cars which arrived late in the morn- 
ing could not be held in good condition until the market 
of the following morning. The Horticulturist for 1871 
reported: "An hour's difference in the arrival of a fruit 
train is sufficient to cause a decline in the price of 5 to 10 
cents a quart upon all the fruit it carries. Upon one train 
which was carried over the Delaware Road this spring there 
were 256,000 quarts. The total loss to the growers by the 
arrival of this train one hour late was between $10,000 and 
$20,000."^ "The most discouraging period in the 
history of the berry business that I can recall," says A. 
W. Slaymaker of Delaware, "was when the report came 
back regularly, on our biggest days, that the train got in 
too late for the market. I can only faintly depict the dis- 
appointment to hundreds of hard working growers who 
found their labors all in vain." ^ Between 1870 and 1880 
the losses, from shipping long distances in ventilator cars, 
were very heavy. By 1880 there was a decided decrease 
in planting at points distant from the large markets, es- 
pecially in the South ; the risks were too great. At this 
juncture, the refrigerator car came into use, and gave 
greater security to the business. The railroad, telegraph 
and refrigerator car are a trio of facilities that have made 
commercial strawberry-growing continental instead of 
local. 

The introdvxition of the refrigerator car. — The pioneer in 
strawberry refrigeration was Parker Earle, of Cobden, 
Illinois. In the face of the skepticism of growers and the 

1 The Horticulturist, 1871, p. 226. 

2 Rept. Peninsula Hort. Soc, 1905, p. 68. 



56 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

open hostility of railroads and express companies, he con- 
tinued his experiments until they were successful, and 
paved the way for the great refrigerator interests of today. 
The story of these early struggles has been told by him : ^ 

"I think it was in 1868 that I built the first twelve re- 
frigerator chests for shipping strawberries. I sent them to 
Chicago, Pittsburg, New York, Memphis and New Orleans, 
by express. When the express companies followed in- 
structions and re-iced the berries they carried quite well. 
They held 200 quart baskets each and 100 pounds of ice. 
The express rates were so high and the neglect of re-icing 
so frequent that I had to give it up. Similar chests, only 
larger, were used from Charleston to New York by steam- 
ship lines at about the same time. It was later that the 
small pony refrigerator boxes began to be used from 
Florida. My boxes weighed 600 pounds when loaded; 
these pony boxes weighed about a hundred pounds. 

"The first attempt at carrying carloads of strawberries 
under refrigeration was made by Mr. Davis, of Detroit, 
about 1868. He came to Cobden with a car that was made 
for refrigerating beef and fish. It contained a vertical 
cylinder in each corner, about fifteen inches in diameter, 
and was iced from the top of the car, using salt with the ice. 
The consequence was the freezing of a part of the berries 
while the balance of the load was very unequally cooled. 
The result was a loss which did not invite a repetition of 
the venture. 

"The experiment interested me greatly, and I thought 
I saw why it failed, — that the refrigeration was very 
unequal and, in parts, very excessive. The following year 
(1869) I got a car from the Michigan Central Railway that 
was being built to carry dairy products. It was loaded 
» Yearbook, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1900, pp. 444-5. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 57 

with berries by an association of growers at Cobden. It 
held about a ton of ice in each end. I went ahead to De- 
troit to make sure of a market, and the car was loaded by 
the growers. With this half charge of ice it might have 
gone through in fair condition, but for the misfortune that 
some wise railroad man took out the plugs from the ice 
boxes in the roof to give the berries 'a chance for a little 
air/ and left them out. Of course, the ice was melted in 
a day and the bulk of the cargo was ruined. 

" This discouraged community efforts in this line at that 
time. I, however, began experimenting with our own 
berries by building a cooling box in our packing shed at 
Anna, Illinois, and holding the berries in it for twenty-four 
hours to cool off, and then sending them by express. It 
was found that those so cooled went into Chicago in better 
condition than those freshly picked from the field, although 
they were one day older. Repeated experiments seemed to 
establish this fact. 

"This decided my plans. I went to Chicago and en- 
gaged the best refrigerator car then made — the old 
Tiffany patent, with a V-shaped ice box suspended from 
the roof and running the full length of the car. The ut- 
most capacity of this ice pan was IJ tons. I knew well 
that this quantity could not both cool off a load of berries 
and keep it cool for two or three days, so I built a cooling 
house at Anna large enough to hold ten tons of strawber- 
ries, and I cooled the load down for a day in that house, 
then transferred it to the Tiffany car. The berries went 
into the car at about fifty degrees F. The result was 
a complete success from the start. No such solid, good- 
keeping berries had ever been seen in Chicago. I enlarged 
this cooling house at Anna, built one at Villa Ridge, and 
another at Cobden. For several years we handled our 



58 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

own berries and other fruits, and much that we bought, 
with very good success. I think this first successful car 
was sent out in 1872. 

" But I was never satisfied with these cars built for the 
dairy product industry, which only carried about IJ tons 
of ice. I wanted a car that could hold five tons in its boxes 
(a cooling house on wheels), in which the fruit could be 
placed as packed with the certainty that it would cool in 
transit and be safe for at least a three-day trip. After 
much canvassing among car builders, I finally secured a 
well-insulated car with this ice capacity. From this time 
forward the evolution in transportation methods was ac- 
complished." 

Railroads now began to build and operate refrigerator 
cars. These were used for several years with varying suc- 
cess, the chief difficulties being that the cars had a limited 
ice capacity and that there was no well-developed system 
for re-icing them en route. According to The American 
Garden, for 1885, "The experiment of shipping strawber- 
ries from Tennessee to New York in refrigerator cars, 
which was tried this year for the first time, did not prove 
a success. The transit required four days, and many 
of the berries were badly decayed." At this time the out- 
look was not encouraging. Refrigerator cars were satis- 
factory, if re-iced when necessary, but the shipper had no 
assurance that this would be done. 

At this juncture F. A. Thomas, of Chicago, joined Parker 
Earle and proposed a plan that put the business on a sub- 
stantial basis. As related by W. A. Taylor : ^ " His plan 
was to provide a through service from shipping point to 
destination in special cars under one management, re-icing 
the cars in transit as found necessary. It was, in short, 
1 Yearbook, U. S. Dept. Agr., 1900, p. 445. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 59 

the establishment of a private car Hne for fruit transporta- 
tion, to be operated on a plan similar to that under which 
sleeping cars had long been run in the passenger service. 
He commenced operations with a few cars in western Ten- 
nessee in the spring of 1887, operating first on straw- 
berries destined for the Chicago market. Owing to the 
distrust of shippers in regard to the effect of ice upon the 
fruit, he was compelled to buy fruit with which to fill the 
cars for shipment. A few tests demonstrated the practi- 
cability of the system, however, and the new service rap- 
idly became popular. In the spring of 1888 Mr. Thomas 
shipped strawberries from Florida to New York success- 
fully in refrigerator cars." 

After this the development of refrigerator service was 
rapid. From a beginning of six cars in 1887, sixty were 
operated in 1888, 600 in 1891, and over 60,000 in 1901. 
The business has been taken up by many private lines and 
railroads. The cars travel over the different railroads, as 
needed, being used first in Florida and Texas, then in Mis- 
sissippi and Louisiana, and gradually working northward 
as the season advances. Icing stations are placed at 
intervals along the main routes of travel. Berries are 
shipped 1000 to 3000 miles and arrive in excellent 
condition. 

More than half of the strawberries marketed in North 
America today are raised so far from the markets that they 
require refrigeration. Rapid transportation alone failed 
to carry this fruit to market in good condition. Without 
refrigerator cars the great strawberry industry of the south- 
ern states would be extremely hazardous, if not impossible. 
C. M. Hovey, who has been called the "father of American 
strawberry culture," won his claim to recognition by a 
lucky chance. We are under far greater obligation to 



60 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 




Parker Earle, who worked on his plans for years, in spite 
of skepticism and under the discouragement of many 

failures. He is one of the 
foremost of those whose skill 
and patience have made pos- 
sible the strawberry industry 
of today. Parker Earle died 
at Los Angeles, California, 
February 12, 1917. 

Eaely History of Certain 
OF THE Older Straw- 
berry Districts 

The main factors in the 
rise of commercial strawberry 
growing have been considered 
in the foregoing paragraphs. 
It now remains to trace in greater detail the origin and 
growth of the industry in different parts of the United 
States and Canada, since the introduction of the Wilson.^ 
The districts are discussed somewhat in the order of 
their development. 

Neio Jersey. — The largest extension of strawberry plant- 
ing immediately after the introduction of the Wilson was in 
New Jersey and the Delaware-Maryland peninsula, to 
supply the New York market. For many years Bergen 
County, New Jersey, had been supplying the city with 
Crimson Cone berries, grown under neglectful culture, ap- 
proaching the wild fruit. Northern New Jersey was the 
first section to feel the stimulus of the increasing demand. 

* The present commercial importance of various strawberry 
districts is given in the Appendix of "Strawberry-Growing." 



Fig. 4. — Parker Earle, who 
developed the refrigerator car 
for strawberry transportation. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 61 

The expansion of the industry in New Jersey between 1854 
and 1865 was remarkable. In 1854 less than 50,000 bush- 
els of strawberries were marketed in the entire country, 
and the supply of New York was less than 6000 bushels. 
By 1861 New York alone received 50,000 bushels. In 
that year the New York Times made this statement : 

"The strawberry trade of New York is the largest of 
any one point in the world. It is estimated that 50,000 
bushels are sold annually in New York, while about 12,000 
bushels are sold in Philadelphia, 12,000 in Cincinnati, 
and 10,000 in Boston. During one week' last season 
400,000 baskets were received daily in New York. From 
one point in New Jersey, twenty-five miles distant from 
the city, there were received by steamboat in a single day 
200,000 baskets. New York City received last year from 
all sources not less than 8,000,000 baskets of strawberries. 
The value of these, at the wholesale price of two and a 
half cents the basket, was $200,000, for which the con- 
sumers probably paid double that sum. About 1500 acres 
of choice land in the vicinity of New York are required to 
supply this market with strawberries. Some farmers 
cultivate 30 to 50 acres." These baskets, it should be 
remembered, held only about a third of a quart. The 
same year, Pardee estimated that the sales in these four 
cities amounted to 93,000 bushels. 

During the next few years the strawberry area in- 
creased, but gradually moved to the southern part of the 
state. Between 1860 and 1868 Burlington County had 
a larger acreage than any other county in the country. 

"In the immediate vicinity of Moorestown, New Jersey, 
there were grown in 1862 more than 6000 bushels of straw- 
berries, which at the moderate rate of $3.50 per bushel, pro- 
duced a return to the farmers of that vicinity of at 



62 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

least $20,000." ^ The same year the West Jersey Fruit 
Growers' Association delegated a committee to collect 
information concerning the extent and condition of the 
strawberry industry in that county. Compiling the re- 
sults of a canvas, the committee reported : " In the six 
townships — Burlington, Beverly, Chester, Cinnaminson, 
Evesham and Newton — there were 520 acres of straw- 
berries in bearing last season, yielding in all 29,030 bushels 
of fruit, worth in the market $133,737.41. The average 
yield per acre was 55J bushels, and the average price per 
bushel, $4.60." In 1867 there were 1000 acres in the 
vicinity of Hammondton alone, chiefly Wilson and Tri- 
omphe. 

The Delaware-Maryland peninsula. — The construction 
of the Delaware Railroad opened a new and fertile field. 
The story of the beginning of a big industry in a little state 
is told by A. W. Slaymaker, of Wyoming, Delaware : ^ 
"The first attempts at berry growing in Delaw^are came 
with the northern settlers who located in middle Dela- 
ware at the close of the war. The business went up with 
a whoop. One of the fii'st, if not the first, grower for 
market in the state was located at Milford, — Mr. Jester, 
who, in 1865, or 1866, shipped berries in thirty-six quart 
crates that brought $36 per crate for eight crates in one 
shipment, in the New York market. A few years later, 
about 1870, Mr. E. H. Bancroft, of Camden, picked 4000 
quarts from an acre of Wilsons grown in hills. Others 
began business about then near Smyrna, Felton, Bridge- 
ville, Wyoming and Milford. Pickers soon became scarce, 
and the market much lower in price." 

The planting soon extended down the peninsula into 

1 U. S. Agr., Rept., 1865, p. 282. 

2 Rept. Peninsula Hort. Soc, 1905, p. 66. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 63 

Maryland. Market reports prove that "the business 
went up with a whoop." There were 2,000,000 quarts 
of strawberries shipped over the Delaware Railroad in 
1869.^ In 1871, according to A. M. Purdy's Small Fruit 
Recorder, 3,200,000 quarts were shipped north from 
New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The Horticulturist 
reports: "In 1871 the Delaware Railroad brought in 
3,000,000 quarts of strawberries to New York. Add to 
this about 2,000,000 from New Jersey and the neighbor- 
hood of New York." ^ In 1873 this magazine conceded : 
"The state of Delaware is the largest fruit state on the 
Atlantic Coast. Its strawberry crop of 1873 was over 
3,000,000 quarts." In 1874 the shipments from the 
peninsula aggregated 665 cars, or 5,280,000 quarts. 

By this time the reaction had set in ; 1874 was a year of 
poor profits or heavy losses for almost every grower. The 
set-back was only temporary, however. In 1888, ac- 
cording to William Parry, "The Delaware Railroad car- 
ried, from May 6th to June 13th, 637 carloads, a total 
of 5,096,000 quarts, or 159,250 bushels ; of which there 
were destined for Philadelphia 44,250 bushels. New 
York 109,250 bushels, Boston 5,500 bushels, and large 
quantities passing on to Buffalo and other northern cities." 
Between 1888 to 1900 the increase in planting was marked. 

Oswego County, New York. — Contemporaneous with 
the rise of strawberry culture in New Jersey, another im- 
portant producing center was developing in western New 
York. The vicinity of Rochester had been noted for its 
berries since 1835. Large Early Scarlet was the most 
popular variety until 1858, when the Wilson supplanted it. 
Oswego County, on the south-east shore of Lake Ontario, 

^ Country Gentleman, 1870, p. 6. 
2 The Horticulturist, 1871, p. 226. 



64 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

now began to realize that it had pecuhar advantages for 
the production of late strawberries. As recalled by D. T. 
Mclnery, the industry began in 1863, when Morris Pierce 
brought a few quarts of strawberries to Oswego, where 
they were gazed at as a curiosity, and sold for one cent a 
berry .^ The first shipments were made in 1866, by boat 
to Watertown and Syracuse. In 1872 Oswego berries 
were first expressed to New York, the charge being $1.00 
a forty-five quart crate ; in 1873 the first strawberry train 
was started. By 1883 the movement amounted to 3000 
crates, mostly to New York and Philadelphia, and the 
boom days of the Oswego berry industry had begun. Very 
high prices often were obtained for Oswego Atlantics, 
$7.00 to $9.00 a crate were not uncommon. The acreage 
increased rapidly until 1898; the output was 22,000 
thirty-six quart crates in 1896 and 52,263 crates — nearly 
2,000,000 quarts — in 1898, when over 1000 acres were 
cultivated. This was the high-water mark ; the industry 
declined rapidly after 1898. 

Michigan. — The most important extension of commer- 
cial strawberry growing in the central states, after the in- 
troduction of the Wilson, was stimulated by the demands 
of the lusty young giant on the shore of Lake Michigan. 
Growing with amazing rapidity, Chicago soon laid a wide 
territory under tribute. The warm soils and climatic 
advantages of the Lake Michigan shore "Fruit Belt" in 
south-western Michigan, and the ease with which it could 
be reached by boat, soon gave this region preeminence in 
the culture of peaches and strawberries for the Chicago 
market. The strawberry industry of Michigan began near 
Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Berrien County. In 1861 
T. W. Dunham, David Brown and several other pioneer 
1 Bui. 189, N. Y. (CorneU) Exp. Sta. (1901), p. 135. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 65 

fruit growers of that neighborhood planted small fields of 
Wilson.^ The results were so encouraging that by 1865 
there was a considerable acreage, and it was reported : 
"The average yield per acre was about 70 bushels, for 
which the growers received $5.00 per bushel nett, that 
is, after deducting freight to Chicago, commission, etc., 
making the snug little profit of S350 per acre." ^ Steamers 
left Benton Harbor about nine o'clock at night, reaching 
Chicago before daylight, delivering the fruit "fresh and un- 
bruised, having suffered no jolts, as would be the case had 
it been shipped by the railroad.'' According to the St 
Joseph Herald for 1871, 30,000 bushels had been shipped 
to Chicago that year up to June 15 and the average price 
was $3.00 a bushel. The total movement from St. 
Joseph in 1782 was 24,878 bushels, with an average net 
return of twelve cents per quart.^ By 1877 Berrien 
County shipped to Chicago 128,840 one-half bushel crates, 
while large quantities were marketed elsewhere by rail.^ 
This county has maintained its prominence in strawberry 
production. 

Illinois. — An important strawberry territory along the 
line of the Illinois Central Railroad came to the front 
at about the same time as Berrien County, Michigan. 
B. F. Smith, then a baggage-man on this railroad, tells 
of these early days: "It was about the third of May, 
1860, that I received into the baggage car of the Illinois 
Central Railroad the first package of strawberries that 
was raised in southern Illinois for the Chicago market. 
It consisted of a small, flat-goods box that held from two 

1 Rept. Mich. State Bd. Agr., 1879, p. 129 ; also Proe. Mich. 
Hort. Soc. 1888, p. 16. 

2 The Cultivator, 1865, p. 271. 

' The Horticulturist, 1872, p. 58. 

4 Proc. Amer. Pom. Soc, 1879, p. 109. 



66 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

to three gallons of berries — the largest quantity of 
strawberries I had ever seen up to that time. They were 
grown at UUin station, twenty miles north of Cairo. They 
were the commencement of the immense trade that has 
since grown up along the line of the Illinois Central Rail- 
road in southern Illinois. In 1861 Jonesboro and Cob- 
den shipped a few packages daily, and in 1862-3 as many 
as 100 to 200 crates were shipped daily from Cobden and 
Jonesboro, the first berries to reach Chicago bringing about 
$1.00 a quart. In 1864-5 the business had grown so large 
that we attached to our train from two to three extra cars 
daily." 1 

The Horticulturist for 1862 takes notice of the develop- 
ment of "quite a strawberry trade in 'Egypt' (Union 
County, southern Illinois) for the Chicago market," and 
states, "The fruit is shipped in round, quart boxes, the 
average net price being 20 cents per quart. The express 
charge is SI. 00 per hundred pounds." ^ In 1867 there 
were 400 acres at Cobden and the Illinois Central put on 
a through strawberry train, the "Thunderbolt Express," 
running to Chicago on passenger train schedule.^ In 
1869, Chicago received 800 bushels a day from this district 
at the height of the season, and by 1872, "Stations on the 
Illinois Central already ship their 10,000 bushels an- 
nually." In 1886, the strawberry train of the Illinois 
Central consisted of "thirty refrigerator cars per day, 
twenty-two of which go to commission men of Chicago 
whose 800,000 inhabitants consume 435,800 quarts a 
day."^ 

1 Rept. Mo. State Hort. Soc, 1879 ; also Rept. Ark. Hort. 
Soc, 1894, p. 30. 

2 The Horticulturist, 1862, p. 351. 

' Country Gentleman, 1867, p. 189. 
* Gardeners' Monthly, 1886, p. 302. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 67 

Virginia. — The earliest commercial strawberry growing 
in the South was in the Chesapeake Bay region, about 1854, 
and was coincident with the beginning of trucking. The 
warm soils, equable climate and early season of that region, 
due in part to the proximity of the Gulf Stream, made it 
peculiarly adapted to the culture of early vegetables for 
northern markets ; while the broken coast line made it 
easily accessible to water transportation, there being no 
railroads in that region then. Before 1850 small quanti- 
ties of truck, including a few strawberries, were sent to 
Baltimore and Philadelphia in oyster boats. In 1854 the 
steamer Roanoke carried the first shipment of truck from 
Norfolk to New York. The boats then in use carried 
400 to 600 packages, all on the deck and without refrig- 
eration ; the trip took thirty-six hours. Now, the steam- 
ers of the Old Dominion Line carry 25,000 packages; 
refrigeration and forced ventilation permit loading be- 
tween decks, and the trip is made in nineteen hours. The 
strawberries in these early shipments often reached New 
York and Boston in poor condition. At that time, Nor- 
folk berries were first on the market, and frequently sold 
for fifty cents to a dollar a quart. 

The growing of strawberries and truck for northern 
markets, as an exclusive business and not as a side line, 
began near Norfolk about 1858. By 1861 the strawberry 
industry had begun to attain considerable prominence, 
then the Civil War shut off all communication between 
the trucker and his markets. At the close of the war 
the industry immediately revived. The Horticulturist for 
1866 notes, "Norfolk sent 100 crates of strawberries a 
week, for three weeks, to New York, by boat." The 
superior value of the Wilson for this purpose was quickly 
established; it was an extra good shipping variety and 



68 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

reasonably early. In 1869 a committee of the Norfolk 
Horticultural Society reported that 3,000,000 quarts of 
strawberries were shipped from that port, two thirds or 
three fifths of them being Wilson.^ In 1871, Nor- 
folk "shipped 2,000,000 baskets of strawberries, two 
thirds of which are Wilson's Albany ; " ^ and The Horti- 
culturist added, "Now Norfolk sends 10,000 crates a week 
by water, and 3000 a week by car, the fruit selling in New 
York for about 20 cents a quart." ^ Those were golden 
days for the Norfolk trucker. According to Purdy's 
Small Fruit Recorder for 1871, "One man in Southamp- 
ton county sold $10,000 worth of strawberries off of ten 
acres, the buyer furnishing the baskets " ; the price was 
"only 25 to 30 cents per quart." If correctly quoted, 
this man probably holds the record of profits from a field 
of this size. 

After the Civil War the size of individual holdings in- 
creased very rapidly. Before then the largest field 
grown by one man did not exceed sixty acres; the big 
fields were mostly in Anne Arundel County, Md. The 
difiiculty of securing pickers made it impracticable to 
cultivate a greater acreage. At the close of the war many 
negroes were no longer restricted to one plantation, but 
were driven to the necessity, or opportunity, of seeking 
work where it might be found. Berry picking offered an 
inviting field ; the hours were short, the pay good, and the 
opportunity for amusement unlimited. To a great army 
of this floating labor, berry picking was a picnic, eagerly 
anticipated and enthusiastically enjoyed. The great 
berry and truck industry of Norfolk and other parts of 
the South would not have been possible without free labor 

1 Proc. Amer. Pom. Soc, 1869, p. 139. 

2 Ihid., 1871, p. 61. 3 The Horticvlturist, 1871, p. 259. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 69 

which could be secured in large quantity at certain times 
of the year. 

The increase in the supply of available labor imme- 
diately affected the size of the berry fields. In 1871 it 
was stated : ^ " Strawberries are grown around Norfolk 
on an extensive scale. A Mr. Anderson has fifty acres in 
strawberries and is planting much more. He expects to 
employ from 600 to 800 pickers. He is the largest culti- 
vator, but there are about a hundred others whose opera- 
tions are nearly as extensive.'' In 1879 J. R. Young, Jr., 
of Norfolk, was said to be the largest strawberry grower 
in the world. A current magazine stated: "He now has 
225 acres planted and expects to have 440 acres. He em- 
ploys in the neighborhood of a thousand hands." ^ 
These very large plantings were not generally as profitable 
as smaller areas cultivated more intensively. 

South Carolina. — Charleston was a center of amateur 
interest in strawberry culture long before they were grown 
at Norfolk; the Charleston Horticultural Society had 
able discussions on the subject in 1836. There was no 
commercial interest at that point until about 1868 save 
for the very limited quantity grown for the home market. 
Beginning about 1856, truck crops were shipped from 
Charleston to northern cities. There is no record of 
strawberry shipments until 1871, when The Horticulturist 
observed, ^ " On April 10th, 560 packages of strawberries 
were received in New York by the Charleston steamer," 
which indicates that the industry then must have been 
of several years' standing. The Gardeners^ Monthly for 
1875 says strawberries were a "drug on the market at 

1 Amer. Journ. Hort, IX (1871), p. 148. 

2 Proc. Columbus Hort. Soc, 1886. 
' The Horticulturist, 1871, p. 258. 



70 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Charleston, though but eighty acres are grown. Neunan, 
a local seedling, is the chief variety." ^ Two years later 
the Country Gentleman reported,^ " 30,000 quarts of straw- 
berries were shipped from Charleston by steamer in one 
day." Oemler states that the Charleston crop for 1879 
was 734,093 quarts. In 1888 the crop of Charleston ber- 
ries was estimated at 800,000 quarts, valued at $80,000.^ 

The industry never attained as much prominence at 
Charleston as at Norfolk, and soon declined, doubtless 
because of recurring experiences like that described by 
A. Oemler, in 1885 : ^ "The strawberry crop came so late 
into the market, in consequence of the frequent severe 
spring frosts, that Charleston berries were crowded out 
by arrivals from Norfolk, leaving thousands of quarts 
to rot unpicked in the fields, otherwise the shipments 
would have reached 1,200,000 quarts." The Charleston 
district was literally forced out of the market by its com- 
petitors, northern Florida, North Carolina and Norfolk. 

Florida. — Commercial strawberry-growing in Florida 
for northern markets began in Bradford and Duval Coun- 
ties about 1878. Before then it would have been re- 
garded as folly to grow strawberries commercially in 
Florida, not only because transportation was lacking, 
but also because it was believed that this fruit could not 
be grown successfully in that climate. Water transpor- 
tation being impracticable under the conditions prevail- 
ing then, nothing was done until the railroads came. In 
1881, "Florida strawberries were in the Philadelphia mar- 
ket the middle of March, having been three days on the 

1 Gardeners' Monthly, 1875, p. 304. 

^ Country Gentleman, 1877, p. 365. 

3 Proe. Amer. Pom. Soc, 1889, p. 140. 

^ Kept. U. S. Com. of Agr., 1885, p. 611. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 71 

railroad, and sold at 25 cents a quart. They were two 
weeks later this year than last." ^ 

There long had been a limited demand in New York and 
other northern cities for winter berries. Heretofore the 
demand had been met with forced fruit, which retailed at 
$3.50 to $5.00 a quart. The first Florida berries, mostly 
Wilsons, were shipped in open crates by express and sold 
for fifty cents to $1.00 a quart. The express charges 
to New York then were fifteen cents a quart. The disas- 
trous freeze of 1886, which practically destroyed orange 
groves in northern Florida, stimulated interest in straw- 
berry-growing in that part of the state. In 1888 Stephen 
Powers estimated the output from Florida at 20,000 
bushels, of which Bradford county supplied 5000 bushels. 
Gainesville, Stark and Lawtry were the principal shipping 
points. Florida sent the first refrigerator car of straw- 
berries to the North in 1889. About the same time re- 
frigerator cases came into common use for the small ex- 
press shipments early in the season. The introduction of 
refrigeration greatly stimulated the Florida industry, as 
there had been frequent losses hitherto from berries that 
spoiled on the way to market. 

Some remarkable profits were made in those days. 
" Net profits of $400 an acre were considered only average," 
Helen Harcourt stated in 1886. " From $1000 to $2000 an 
acre are not infrequently made, and sometimes more." ^ 
She puts on record what is probably the largest profit ever 
made from an equal quantity of field-grown berries. "A 
shipment of 1050 quarts of strawberries from Jacksonville 
to New York in a refrigerator car gave a return of $2630, 
being sold at $2.50 per quart. The expense of picking 

1 Gardeners' Monthly, 1881, p. 151. 

2 " Florida Fruits" (1886), pp. 187-98. 



72 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

and shipping was S283, leaving a clear profit of $2346." 
Until the great freeze of December, 1894, and February, 
1895, practically all Florida berries were grown in the 
northern part of the state and were marketed in March and 
April. The district in southern Florida, comprising Hills- 
boro and Polk Counties, which now ships from December 
to March, has developed since 1896. 

North Carolina. — The important strawberry district 
of the coastal plain of North Carolina, centering at Mt. 
Tabor, Mt. Olive and Chadbourn, did not begin to develop 
until about 1890. It had been noticed for some years that 
there was a break between the Charleston and Norfolk 
berries, when the market was but scantily supplied. The 
North Carolina district was developed to fill this gap ; but, 
in doing this, it crowded Charleston berries off the market. 

No strawberry district, with the exception of the 
Delaware-Maryland peninsula, had a more remarkable 
growth during its early years. In 1897 Chadbourn shipped 
632 quart crates ; in 1898, 6000 crates ; in 1906, 317,000 
crates, or 1623 cars. It was reported that 226 cars moved 
from the district on May 5, 1906, and more than 3000 cars 
that year, all in a rushing season of three weeks, two weeks 
shorter than the normal.^ Over 10,000 people took part 
in that great harvest. The North Carolina district led 
the world in strawberry production that year. This was 
the crest of the wave. The business had grown faster than 
the railroads and refrigerator car service could keep pace. 
Thousands of bushels were left to rot in the fields or at 
the depots, because there were no cars. In most cases 
the railroads paid damages, but this was not sufficient to 
cover the loss to the growers. Another discouraging 
factor was the difficulty of securing enough pickers to har- 
* Wilmington Messenger, May 6, 1906. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 73 

vest this very large crop during such a short period. Be- 
ginning about 1906, the acreage of strawberries in the 
South generally, and in North Carolina especially, de- 
creased considerably. 

The Gulf States and the lower Mississippi Valley. — The 
market gardens of Mobile and New Orleans were famous 
long before the coming of the railroads made it possible to 
exchange their products for northern gold. The close 
of the Civil War ushered in a period of railroad building 
that opened new channels of trade between the North and 
South. "On April 21, 1868, a carload of vegetables, in- 
cluding sixty-four quarts of strawberries, were shipped 
from Mobile to Chicago." ^ Mobile continued to ship a 
few strawberries to the North for many years, mostly by 
express, but the industry did not become prominent in 
Alabama until after 1900. The first carload shipment 
was in 1902, by the Castleberry Fruit Growers' Association 
of Conecuh County. 

Although far south, Mississippi is a congenial home for 
the wild strawberry. " Pioneers of Mississippi," says 
W. H. McKay, "tell of the luxuriant and delicious wild 
strawberries of by-gone years ; how they were accustomed 
to have great water buckets full brought in from the 
fields and prairies." Various points in Mississippi began 
to ship strawberries to Chicago about 1870, mainly along 
the line of the Illinois Central Railroad. By 1879 there 
were seventy-five acres at Madison, and about 500 acres 
altogether along the N. O. & St. L. R. R.^ J. F.- Merry, 
of the Illinois Central Railroad, gives the following bit of 
history concerning the development of the strawberry 
industry of Louisiana: "The first shipment of straw- 

1 Country Gentleman, 1868, p. 349. 

2 Proc. Amer. Pom. Soc, 1879, p. 130. 



74 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

berries from Independence, Louisiana, was made in 1879, 
and consisted of sixteen crates shipped to Chicago by 
American express. The first carload shipment from south 
of the Ohio River was made by the Ilhnois Central from 
Greenfield, Weakley County, Tennessee to Chicago, in 
1881." Strawberry-growing began at Memphis, Bartlett, 
Gadsden and Milan, Tennessee, about 1870, and a few 
years later at Columbus, Kentucky. Weakley and Gib- 
son counties were the first centers of production in West 
Tennessee, The East Tennessee or Chattanooga district, 
comprising mainly Hamilton, Rhea and Knox counties, 
has developed since 1880, when J. B. Howell made the first 
shipment from his farm near Chattanooga. 

The completion of the Iron Mountain and Southern 
Railroad across the state of Arkansas to Texarkana, about 
1873, soon was followed by strawberry planting at Jud- 
sonia and Beebe, White County. The strawberry dis- 
trict in the Ozark region of southwest Missouri and north- 
west Arkansas has developed since 1890. In 1883 John 
Carnahan planted the first strawberries at Sarcoxie, Mis- 
souri ; this was the first point to ship in car-lots.^ 

Pacific coast. — Strawberry growing first began to as- 
sume commercial importance on the Pacific coast about 
1865, in the vicinity of San Francisco. In 1870 it was re- 
ported, "The San Francisco market received, about the 
first of May, 6000 lbs. of strawberries daily, and they sold 
at 10 to 15 cents per pound." ^ The Florin district, near 
Sacramento, and the Los Angeles district began to de- 
velop about 1885. 

Hood River, Oregon, was the first point in the Pacific 
Northwest to ship strawberries in car-lots. "In the fall 

1 Rept. Mo. Hort. Soc, 1897, p. 227. 

2 Jour. Hort., VII (1870), p. 354. 



RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 75 

of 1883 Hon. T. R. Coon, now of Lyle, Washington, came 
to Hood River to seek rural pursuits, and he immediately 
secured and planted several varieties of strawberries for 
the purpose of experimentation. Clark's Early was 
among those selected, and proved to be the only one of 
promise. In 1884 Mr. Coon sent a crate (24 lb.) of this 
variety to the Portland market and received in return 
$9.00, and an inquiry for more of the same kind. The 
year following he began shipping them into Montana." ^ 

Canada. — Commercial strawberry growing in Canada 
began in Nova Scotia and Ontario about 1860. For sev- 
eral years before 1870, late berries were shipped by boat 
from the Cornwallis and Annapolis valleys, Nova Scotia, 
to Boston. A little later, Prince Edward Island, where 
the normal ripening season is late July or early August, 
responded to the demand of Boston for late berries. The 
strawberry industry of Ontario began to assume commer- 
cial importance about 1865. According to A. W. Peart, 
in 1860 there were only about fifty acres of all kinds of 
small fruits in the province; the largest acreage was in 
Burlington district.^ In 1869 Thomas Chisholm of Es- 
quesing, Hilton County, reported to the Fruit Growers' 
Association that there were sixty acres of strawberries in 
bearing near Oakville and that the prospects for good 
prices were so bright that the planting had been increased 
to two hundred acres. "In one day," said he, "four 
hundred bushels were shipped to Toronto and Montreal. 
Wilson is the favorite variety." From 1879 to 1889 prices 
were good and the acreage increased rapidly, but the next 
ten years were discouraging, due largely to a wide-spread 
trade depression. Since 1900 the industry has prospered. 

1 Rept. Ore. State Hort. Soc, 1907, p. 220. 

2 Rept. Ont. Fr. Gr. Assoc, 1909, p. 20. 



CHAPTER III 

HISTORY OF STRAWBERRY PACKAGES, 

METHODS OF TRAINING, AND 

POLLINATION 

The packages used for shipping strawberries to market 
have changed with the generations to meet new condi- 
tions as they have arisen. The evolution of the modern, 
cheap, gift package from the clumsy and expensive 
return package of earlier days has reflected the rapid 
development of the industry. 

Early Packages 

At the beginning of commercial strawberry culture 
in North America, about 1820, it was natural that the 
packages should be those approved by English gardeners. 
In 1821 Massachusetts strawberry growers were advised 
to carry berries to the Boston markets in "pottles, that 
is, in inverted cones of basket work." ^ The pottle used 
in England and Scotland at that time contained "nomi- 
nally, one Scotch pint. These are packed one above 
another in square hampers and are conveyed to the 
market on a light carriage or frame work hung on springs. 
Near London it is customary to pack fifty or sixty of 
these pottle baskets in a large basket, which is then 
1 Memoirs Mass. Agr. Soc, VI (1821). 
76 




PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 77 

placed upon a woman's head, on a small cushion. She 
trudges miles with it to market."^ 

Another type of splint basket, called a punnet, was 
used in the strawberry trade of New York City between 
1815 and 1850. The English punnet used in America 
was a shallow basket of woven wickerwork without 
handles (Fig. 5). A handled punnet was more popular in 
the New York market. C. W. 
Idell relates:^ "The first straw- 
berries marketed in New York were 
wild ones from Bergen County, 
N. J. The negroes were the first 
to pick this fruit for the New York 
market and invented those quaint Fig. 5. — Type of pun- 
old-fashioned splint baskets with ^^i^^^Ztmu-iIst 
handles. The baskets were strung 
on poles and thus peddled through the city." Originally 
the punnets were supposed to hold about a pint each, but 
eventually they became very uncertain as to size ; many 
held less than half a pint. 

About 1820, commercial strawberry growing for the 
New York market began in the vicinity of Hackensack, 
New Jersey. The berries were packed in punnets without 
handles ; these were packed in large hampers. They were 
returned to the shipper when emptied. The problem of 
standardizing the cubic contents of fruit packages is not 
modern, as is evident from a market report of 1847:^ 
"The milk train of Tuesday night took to New York 
80,000 baskets of strawberries. These are intended to 

1 Trans. Hort. Soc. of London, VI (1826), p. 513 ; also The 
Cultivator, 1835, p. 81. 

2 Proe. N. J. Hort. Soc, 1877, p. 26. 

^ American Agriculturist, 1847, p. 260. 



78 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

contain one pint each; but say that three baskets con- 
tained one quart, which is quite within bounds." Pun- 
nets and pottles found Httle favor except in the vicinity 
of Boston and New York and were soon discarded for 
more convenient and less expensive packages. 

From these very small receptacles the practice in some 
places swung to the opposite extreme of large tubs and 
drawers. In 1854 Robert Buist protested : "The present 
mode is disgusting in the extreme ; large tub fulls, bruised 
and crushed, spooned into quart measure from vessels of 
very questionable character in both color and appear- 
ance. The denizens carrying home their quantum of 
mashed matter under the name of strawberries can know 
little, from such a mixture, of the delicious aroma and 
rich flavor of the pure fruit." ^ 

The Cincinnati stand of drawers. — "About 1848," 
says J. M. Smith, "such strawberries as were grown for 
market were first hulled and then sold by the quart or 
peck, dry measure, as needed." This practice was more 
common in the upper Mississippi Valley than in the East. 
There, the Cincinnati tray or stand of drawers, became the 
standard package, especially in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana 
and Missouri. The trays or drawers were made in 
various sizes. One of the first in use by Cincinnati growers 
was described by Charles Cist, in 1848, as " cases or stands 
of five to eight drawers, each drawer containing from 30 
to 40 quarts, which lie an average depth of two or two 
and one half inches." ^ About 1864, the stand commonly 
used was two feet long, twenty inches wide, and held five 
drawers two inches deep, each holding one half bushel 
(Fig. 6). The bottom boards were one quarter inch 

1 "Family Kitchen Gardener," p. 216. 

2 U. S. Patent Office Report, 1848, p. 610. 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 



79 



The trays are 



apart for ventilation. This stand cost about SI. 50. Only 
the top drawer of the stand was provided with a cover. 
A little later a stand containing four drawers, each 
holding about sixteen quarts dry measure, was preferred. 
This remained the most popular type until about 1900, 
when all stands were discarded. This type of stand was 
described by A. M. Purdy in 1871 : ^ 
three inches deep, sixteen 
inches wide, twenty-four 
inches long, inside measure- 
ment. The sides and ends 
are one half inch thick, the 
bottom one quarter inch thick, 
except the lower drawer, the 
bottom of which is one half 
inch thick. The end pieces 
pass by the sides one half 
inch. The posts, which are 
one inch by two and one half 
inches, are nailed strongly to 
each corner of the lower 
drawer, so that the other 




Fig. 6. — The Cincinnati stand 



three slip inside of the post. «/ ^.^J.^ff - "f^t'Vr^^ ^''''" 

rm f ^1 ^ /^ sippi Valley, 1850-1890. 

ihe posts are then cut on even 

with the top of the cover. The cover is made of one half 
inch stuff fastened together by two pieces, one inch 
by two and one half inches. These pieces fit over the 
top of the posts, coming just to the outside. They are 
fastened on one side with light hinges and on the other 
by light pieces of hoop iron, six inches long, which are 
nailed on top of the top pieces, bent over and fastened 
to the posts by screws." When retailed, the berries were 
1 Small Fruit Recorder, 1871, p. 82. 



80 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

scooped into quart measures and the empty stands were 
returned to the shipper. 

The Cincinnati stand was a fairly satisfactory package 
for berries shipped to near markets; it was cheap and 
easily handled, but there were too many berries in one 
package to make it serviceable for distant shipment. 
The fruit reached the market soft and settled ; a shrinkage 
of 10 to 30 per cent was not uncommon. This led to the 
substitution of boxes in crates for distant shipments; 
for near markets, stands were used more or less until 
about 1900. In 1895 the stand of four one-half -bushel 
drawers was still in common use in Ohio. It cost forty 
cents new, but good second hand stands could be bought 
for fifteen to twenty cents. 

The retail dealer preferred trays or drawers to boxes, 
because they "held out better." Usually the grower 
did not measure the berries into the drawer, but picked 
them in large baskets and poured them into the drawer 
until it was level full. Frequently the retailers were 
able to sell eighteen to twenty quarts from each half 
bushel drawer; they claimed that the buyer liked to see 
the berries measured out. According to W. W. Farms- 
worth of Ohio, "They buy by dry measure and sell by 
wine measure, and make a dollar a bushel by that oper- 
ation. Many markets, however, prefer the Cincinnati 
stand as it gives the grocer a chance to do his own meas- 
uring and sell his thumb thirty-two times to the bushel 
at ten cents a quart and still have it left." ^ We are no 
longer privileged to observe this sleight-of-hand feat with 
strawberries, but modern substitutes are equally inter- 
esting. About 1885 many growers who used stands sold 
them with the berries, agreeing to buy tliem back again 
1 Rept. Ohio Hort. Soc, 1886-7, p. 55. 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 81 

at a fixed price, usually fifteen cents each. This modifi- 
cation of the gift package idea saved considerable book- 
keeping. The modern counterpart of the Cincinnati 
stand is the chest of drawers used in California extensively. 

Evolution of the Box and Ckate Package 

Thin wooden boxes have been used somewhat from the 
beginning of commercial strawberry culture in North 
America. In 1837, boxes of strawberries holding about 
a quart were quoted on the Boston market. "In 1848/' 
said Charles Cist, "a considerable share of the straw- 
berries marketed at Cincinnati were sold in tin boxes of a 
quart each or wooden ones of two quarts each. These 
usually command a better price, not only on account of 
more perfect keeping of the article, but also because they 
measure out more than when berries are filled into the 
ordinary quart measure." ^ The retailer always re- 
measured the contents of the boxes, presumably to pro- 
tect his customer. These boxes, like the baskets and 
stands, were returnable; the name of the shipper was 
stamped upon each, and the dealer was supposed to return 
them when empty. When the berries were sold they 
were emptied into a paper bag. 

Growers in the Mississippi Valley who used stands 
could see no value whatever in boxes. In 1866, A. M. 
Purdy, then of South Bend, Indiana, declared: "We 
have discarded the use of quart boxes to ship in for a 
number of reasons. First, shipping, as we do, from 50 
to 100 bushels a day, it would be impossible to pack the 
number required properly. Second, they get mislaid and 
lost. Third, retailers and buyers are not satisfied with 
1 U. S. Patent Office Kept., 1848, p. 610. 



82 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

them, preferring to see the fruit measured out. Fourth, 
commission men do not like them, as it is too much 
trouble to gather them in, and in fact, an impossibility. 
Fifth, the cost is too great." These early boxes were 
shipped in various styles and sizes of heavy, home-made 
crates. Crates had long been used for shipping pint or 
half pint splint baskets to the New York market. An- 
drew M. Hopper, of Pascock, New Jersey, is said to have 
been the first to market strawberries in crates, about 1840. 
"These early cases were skeleton cases, some with and 
some without lids, each grower making them to suit his 
own convenience for handling; but they generally con- 
tained from 100 to 200 baskets each. The number of 
baskets was marked either on the lid or the slats." ^ 

Introdtiction of the return crate and box. — The introduc- 
tion of the Wilson gave a great impetus to strawberry 
culture and the remarkable expansion of railroads soon 
after made it possible to grow strawberries at a greater 
distance from the markets. The modern crate and box 
package was developed between 1855 and 1870 to meet 
these new conditions, as none of the packages then in use 
were suitable for long distance shipping. The Gardeners' 
Monthly for 1859 says: "On one day, 60,000 boxes were 
shipped from Norfolk and other southern points to Phil- 
adelphia. The boxes are of thin wood containing a quart 
each and are put in small chests holding sixty boxes." 
The sixty-quart crate still is a standard package of the 
Norfolk district, but at that time the package was re- 
turnable, each box being stamped "owner's box." 

One of the first to manufacture boxes in large quanti- 
ties was Hallock, of Queens, New York, who began busi- 
ness before 1855. In 1862 " Hallock's strawberry boxes " 
1 Kept. N. J. Hort. Soc, 1877, p. 28. 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 83 

cost $20 a thousand, including the crates, which were 
mostly the forty-eight-quart size. These boxes were 
square and were made of two pieces of white-wood, one- 
fourth to three-eighths inch thick. The use of Hallock's 
boxes became so general that in some sections all straw- 
berry boxes were called "Hallocks" — and are to this 
day. 

Hallocks were made in various sizes and were very 
heavy. Frequently they were packed in heavy, home- 
made crates. Jeremiah Haggerty has described the pack- 
age used in Oswego County, New York, about 1855 : ^ 
"The crates were of several sizes and shapes, mostly of 
domestic manufacture. The lumber in them was from 
one to one and a quarter inches in thickness. They were 
made like tool chests, with handles nailed along the sides 
and extending at the end so as to allow two men to handle 
them conveniently. They contained from 120 to 160 
quarts. The berry boxes at that time held two quarts 
and were made of wood one quarter to three-eighths inch 
in thickness." 

These thick, heavy boxes were soon discarded for lighter 
ones. In 1869 W. F. Wall of Fayetteville, New York, 
used "a square quart box with the bottom set up into the 
box one inch, so that they may set above one another in 
the crate without jamming the fruit. The material for the 
box is white wood, one sixteenth of an inch thick ; the 
inside diameter is 5 X 5 X 2^ inches; the cost about 
$15 a thousand. They are shipped in crates holding 24, 
36 or 48 quarts." ^ The Baker thirty-six quart crate 
was introduced into western New York by Baker Brothers 
in 1872. It cost $2.25 at that time. 

1 Rural New Yorker, 1898, p. 68. 

2 Southern Horticulturist, Oct., 1869. 



84 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

The first gift packages. — John Knox, of Pittsburgh, 
was the first to use a gift package. In 1861 Thomas 
Meehan pleaded for "cheap gift boxes, which the buyer 
can destroy after emptying, as does the London pleasure 
seeker the pottle of strawberries he bought at London 
bridge before taking the excursion boat to Gravesend." ^ 
The following year Knox introduced his "Pittsburgh" 
box, which was square and made of veneer. A gift crate 
holding fifty-four pint boxes cost eighty cents. The 
"Beecher Patent Basket" was introduced the same year; 
this was round, made of pasteboard and cost $1.00 a 
thousand. In 1863 Knox said, "I market in boxes hold- 
ing pints and quarts. These are packed in crates holding 
24 quarts or 54 pints." ^ 

At his annual strawberry exhibition, in 1868, Knox 
offered a prize of $100 "for the best type of gift box." 
The competition developed this fact : ^ " Two distinct 
classes of boxes are demanded by growers and furnished 
by manufacturers ; a cheap or gift box, to be given away 
with the fruit, and a better or stronger article to be 
returned by the dealer or consumer." By this time the 
pioneer manufacturers of return boxes, Hallock and Colby, 
of Queens, New York, w^ere making gift packages also ; 
and the "Burlington Free Fruit Box" was on the market. 
This was introduced by J. Churchman, of Burlington, 
New Jersey. It was made of wood veneer in two pieces, 
and put together without glue or nails ; shipped in the flat, 
it cost $10 a thousand quarts.^ 

Slow adoption of gift packages in the East. — The gift 

1 Gardeners' Monthly, 1861, p. 209. 

2 Rept. Mo. Hort. Soc, 1863, p. 39. 
3Rept. Ohio Hort. Soc, 1868, p. 27. 
4 Country Gentleman, 1866, p. 222. 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 85 

package found favor in the Mississippi Valley much more 
rapidly than in the Atlantic States. This was partly be- 
cause the stand of drawers, which had been used in the 
Mississippi Valley almost exclusively, was poorly adapted 
for long distance shipping, and western growers ship 
farther than eastern growers. By 1875, practically all 
the berries from this region, except those sold in near 
markets, were packed in gift crates. The sixteen and 
twenty-four quart gift crates, with square or octagonal 
boxes, developed in the Mississippi Valley. In 1875 
twenty-four quart crates were used almost exclusively 
in that region for long distance shipping; the crates 
were returned but the boxes were not. The northeastern 
states always have preferred the thirty-two quart size, 
or larger, until quite recently. 

In the East, the inconveniences of return packages 
were endured much longer, partly because markets were 
closer and partly because gift packages cost more. In 
1893 a good return crate cost forty cents in Delaware and 
a gift crate thirty-two cents; gift boxes cost $4.00 a 
thousand. That year, several bodies of eastern fruit 
growers adopted resolutions condemning the gift crate. 
The sixty quart return crate was used in the Norfolk 
district as late as 1902. 

The numerous disadvantages of the return package 
eventually forced nearly all sections to adopt the gift 
package. The grower was obliged to have enough crates 
for a week's picking, as he never could be sure that the 
crates would be returned promptly. When he shipped 
to a large commission house, rarely did he get back as 
many crates as he sent and the crates of different shippers 
nearly always were mixed. The retail grocers generally 
threw the empty boxes into one big pile. When the 



86 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

crates were returned, they were filled with baskets, 
promiscuously, from this pile ; the grower who shipped in 
new boxes was likely to have old, stained boxes returned. 
There was a growing sentiment in the trade and among 
consumers for fresh, clean boxes. Another disadvantage, 
which the grower sometimes overlooked, was that the 
expense of returning the package was paid by him. In 
early years, the transportation companies returned 
empties free ; later they charged for this service and be- 
came increasingly indifferent about returning them 
promptly. Commission men did not like to return pack- 
ages ; sometimes it took more labor to collect the empties 
than to sell the fruit. Thousands were not returned at 
all. Eventually the volume of business became so great 
that the return of empties was a physical impossibility. 
Then growers, profiting by the experience of the orange 
growers of Florida and California, were forced to adopt 
the gift package. At first, some used return crates and 
gift boxes, but this only half solved the problem. Now, 
gift packages are used almost exclusively for shipping to 
the general market, except for the pony refrigerators of 
Florida, and the chest of drawers used in California for 
near markets. Stout return crates, with gift boxes, 
still are used somewhat for near markets; also return 
trays. The return package was fairly satisfactory in the 
days when all commercial strawberry fields were only a 
few miles from market and the quantity of fruit shipped 
was small. It was made obsolete by the extension of 
transportation facilities and the enormous increase in the 
volume of business. 

It is probable that within twenty-five years the 
wooden box will have been largely displaced by the 
paper box, as a matter of economy. 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 87 



Eakly Methods of Training 

Until about 1840, most of the strawberries grown in 
North America were trained in hills. English methods 
were sedulously copied here before oiu* fruit growers had 
developed sufficient initiative to question the fiats of 
Loudon, Miller and other great English gardeners. Hill 
training had been practiced in England for centuries. 
In his "Paradisus Terrestris," published in 1629, John 
Parkinson says, "Bohemia and all other strawberries will 
not bear kindly if you suffer them to grow with many 
strings, and therefore they are still cut off." As long as 
strawberries were grown only by country gentlemen 
who employed English gardeners and by a few market 
gardeners near the larger cities, hill training prevailed, 
even in the rigorous climate of Massachusetts. In 1835, 
C. M. Hovey wrote : ^ " Strawberries are cultivated in 
beds, rows or hills; some adopt one and some the other 
method, and each has advocates." He contended, how- 
ever, that hill training was the only really satisfactory 
method and gave the following explicit instructions: 
"The beds should contain three rows and should be six 
feet in width; and the alleys between each, three feet. 
The plants should be eighteen inches apart in the row and 
all runners kept off." 

As more people began to grow strawberries for home 
use, most of them unable to afford the luxury of a private 
gardener, there was a tendency to let the plants run; 
it was less trouble and expense. The old line horticul- 
turists protested against this with vigor. In 1845 Wil- 
liam Cobbett voiced the outraged feelings of every true 
English gardener at this unseemly departure from the 
1 Mag. HorL, 1835, p. 304. 



88 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

orthodox method : ^ "To cultivate strawberries in beds, 
suffering them to cover the whole of the ground with their 
runners and young plants is a miserable method, proceed- 
ing from the suggestions either of idleness or of greediness, 
and sure to lead to the defeating of the object of this later. 
In my 'American Gardener' I have recommended the 
forming of the strawberry plantations into beds knowing 
that it was impossible to prevail upon the people in that 
country to take the pains required to cultivate them in 
clumps." By this time there was a considerable area of 
commercial planting in the matted row, especially near 
Cincinnati and in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. 

The era of broadcast training. — With the introduc- 
tion of the Wilson, in 1854, hill training w^as abandoned 
under commercial culture, except in a few market gardens, 
especially near Boston. The Wilson did not make an 
excessive number of runners and thrived even under 
neglect. The prevailing practice quickly passed from one 
extreme to the other — from hill training to broadcast 
training. Between 1854 and 1870 practically all com- 
mercial growers made no attempt whatever to restrict 
the number of runners or to space them. In 1867 An- 
drew S. Fuller described this method '^ "The oldest method 
of field culture in this country, and the one practiced upon 
thousand of acres in the eastern states at the present 
time, is to plant in rows from two and one half to three 
feet apart, spacing the plants about one foot distant in 
the rows. The beds are hoed during the early part of 
the summer, or until the runners have covered the ground, 
after which no attention is paid to them until the next 
spring. Then paths about one foot wide and at a dis- 

1 " The English Gardener" (1845), p. 249. 

2 " Small Fruit Culturist," pp. 61-62. 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 89 

tance of four feet from each other are made, thus forming 
beds with narrow paths in which the pickers are expected 
to stand when gathering the fruit. 

"Two or three crops are gathered from these beds be- 
fore any change is made or cultivation given, except that 
of hoeing or plowing out the paths each season before 
picking time. When the beds have become so much 
crowded with weeds and plants that the fruit is likely to 
entirely fail, a plow is run through the center of each bed, 
forming a new path, the runners being allowed to take 
root and fill up the old ones. Another crop or two is 
taken and then the paths are again changed." The 
prevailing point of view concerning broadcast training 
was thus stated by a grower in 1854: "By allowing the 
ground to be fully occupied by the plants we save all the 
labor which would be consumed in removing the runners 
and we avoid the necessity of applying a mulch to keep 
the fruit clean." 

Under broadcast training many plantations ran to 
vines completely. The Colfax, introduced in 1867, was 
a very notable plant-maker. In 1872 an Illinois grower 
stated : ^ "To my friends who wish to get rid of the weeds 
I recommend the Colfax. It will kill the weeds and 
everything else and completely occupy the ground. It 
is worse than white clover in this respect." It would 
be interesting, though hardly profitable, to watch a race 
between the Colfax and Wonder (of Shank), a recently 
introduced variety which the introducer triumphantly 
asserts will "drive out blue grass." 

Prominent horticulturists continued to protest against 
broadcast training. "Unless these runners are kept in 
check," declared Patrick Barry in 1854, "the ground 
1 Rept. lU. Hort. Soc, 1872, p. 58. 



90 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

becomes covered with a mass of starved and weakly 
plants, choking each other in a hard uncultivated soil 
and producing a sparse crop of small, insipid berries that 
dry up on their stalks before they are ripe unless rain 
happens to fall every day." By calling it "the lazy 
man's method" they endeavored to shame cultivators 
into adopting hill training. In 1862, Thomas Meehan 
said, " There is no question but that growing strawberries 
in hills, instead of letting them run in beds, will be the 
rule with all cultivators who are industrious." This 
subtle implication must have failed to hit its mark, for 
we read that in 1869 he took a 3000 mile trip through 
the leading strawberry districts of the Mississippi Valley 
and Atlantic States and "found the hill system nowhere 
in use except at York and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania." 

The evolution of the matted row. — Broadcast training 
prevailed until about 1870. By that time complaints about 
small berries and loss from drought had become too nu- 
merous to be ignored. When the plants were crowded 
closely together over the entire area, with no opportunity 
for tillage, a severe drought not only reduced the yield 
but also killed the vines in many cases. It became 
necessary to seek a compromise between hill and broad- 
cast training which would permit some degree of tillage, 
so as to prevent loss from drought, yet at the same 
time not sacrifice the heavy yield resulting from a thick 
stand of plants. This compromise was the matted row. 
At the same time methods of renewing the beds, so as to 
get a new stand of uncrowded plants, came into vogue. 
In some cases, especially in the Northeast, the life of the 
plantation was shortened from ten years to two years. 
Since 1870, the matted row has been the dominant method 
of training in commercial culture. The introduction of 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 91 

the Crescent, in 1876, gave a new lease of life to broadcast 
training, since this variety is remarkably prolific of run- 
ners; but Crescents produced in this way were too in- 
ferior to justify the practice. 

Since 1880 there has been a steady drift towards fewer 
plants per acre and more uniform spacing. The first 
step was to narrow the matted row. Soon after broad- 
cast training had been superseded by the matted row it 
was noticed that the best fruit was produced by the out- 
side plants ; these were least crowded and were benefited 
most by the tillage between the rows. The effort to 
secure a larger number of these productive outside plants 
was expressed in two ways; the distance between rows 
was reduced from five or six feet to about three feet, 
and each row was narrowed accordingly. There has 
been a gradual widening of the tilled area between rows 
and a corresponding reduction of the area occupied by 
plants. The matted rows of 1865 were about five feet 
wide, with narrow foot paths between; those of today 
hardly average fifteen inches wide, with room for a culti- 
vator to run between them. 

This restriction of the width of the matted row, together 
with various means of removing surplus plants in the row, 
has made it possible to produce a heavy yield of good 
fruit under this method of training ; but those who have 
sought to produce the highest grade of berries have been 
forced to approach hill training even more closely. The 
hedge-row, which has been supposed by some to be of 
recent origin, was used under intensive culture before 
1865. J. B. Moore, a market gardener of Concord, Mas- 
sachusetts, grew a considerable acreage in triple hedge- 
rows about 1870.^ He set two runners from every 
1 Trans. Mass. Hort. Soc, 1870, p. 28. 



92 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

mother plant, one on each side. P. M. Augur of Middle- 
field, Connecticut, used this method about 1880. The 
double hedge-row, or twin hedge-row as it was then 
called, was used by A. M. Purdy of Palmyra, New York, 
about the same time. The spaced row did not come into 
common use commercially until quite recently, although 
it has been used by a few of the more painstaking growers 
for many years. 

Early methods of renewing the bed. — Before the intro- 
duction of the Wilson the problem of renewing hill plants, 
or preparing them to fruit another season, was compara- 
tively simple. Usually it was accomplished simply by 
mowing and burning the leaves and adding fresh soil. 
This was not done, however, immediately after the crop 
was harvested, as at present, but in early spring, while 
the plants were still dormant. Mowing and burning 
came into favor early in the nineteenth century. In 
1828, J. D. Legare, editor of the Southern Agriculturist 
of Charleston, South Carolina, said : " The practice of 
burning over old strawberry beds in the spring of the 
year has long been and still is practiced in this state." 
He favored letting all weeds grow in summer, "so that 
the plants are not unnecessarily exposed to the influence 
of the sun, which is entirely too intense for them," and 
then mowing and burning them in the spring. He 
stated that in the Northern States, also, "Strawberry 
beds are frequently burned over in early spring, dry straw 
being spread over them first, so that the fire will spread 
rapidly without injuring the plants." 

Frequently hill plants were renewed in the way recom- 
mended by Kenrick in his "New American Orchardist," 
published in 1833: "In the vicinity of Boston the fol- 
lowing method is often adopted. The vines are usually 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 93 

transplanted in August. The rows are formed from 
eighteen inches to two feet asunder. The runners during 
the first year are destroyed. In the second year, they 
are suffered to grow and fill the interval and in the autumn 
of that year the old rows are turned under with the spade 
and the rows are thus shifted to the middle of the space. 
This process is repeated every second year, often for ten 
to fourteen years." The strip turned under was sown 
to turnips. In 1845 A. J. Downing referred to this 
method as "so superior to the common one of growing 
them more closely in beds that we shall not give any direc- 
tions respecting the latter." Still another method was 
advocated by Pardee, in 1854: "Every year or two, if a 
strong runner has struck itself beside an old plant, we 
pull up the old plant instead of the runner and are con- 
stantly thus renewing them." 

After the introduction of the Wilson, in 1854, broad- 
cast and matted row training became general and planta- 
tions were often fruited ten to fifteen years. At first 
there was little or no attempt either to restrict the num- 
ber of plants that set or to encourage the growth of new 
plants to bear the crop of another year. Most growers 
simply mowed and burned the leaves after the crop was 
harvested without plowing or cultivating the land at all. 
This "wholesome neglect," as it was called by its cham- 
pions, was especially advised for the Wilson. In 1860 a 
member of the Illinois Horticultural Society complained, 
" I have a bed of Necked Pine so thickly matted a mouse 
could not get through it. I get no fruit. How can I 
keep them thin ? " O. B. Galusha replied, " Drag a harrow 
through them." This was advanced ground at that time. 
Methods of reducing the stand of plants, with plow, harrow 
or hoe, did not come into general use until some years later. 



94 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Then, as now, some men were looking for the easiest 
way to grow strawberries. At the 1876 meeting of the 
Iowa Horticultural Society, Amos Kemble announced 
that he had found it : " The easiest way of growing 
strawberries that I know of is that used by James Smith 
of Des Moines ; that is, orchard culture among trees ten 
to fifteen years old. The berries. Downer's Prolific, had 
been planted for five years and cultivated each year by 
running over the whole bed with a plow or harrow after 
the crop had been picked; and this was all the cultiva- 
tion given. The only protection was the trees and the 
leaves that fell from them. I found a good crop of nice 
large berries grown at an expense of less than two dollars 
an acre for cultivation and protection." Fortunately, 
this easy-going method did not commend itself generally. 
Since 1870 the methods of renewing matted rows have 
improved constantly; now a renewed bed frequently is 
more profitable than a new setting. 

Eakly Histoky of the Pollination Question 

The fact of the separation of the sexes in some kinds 
of strawberries was first observed by Duchesne in 1760. 
Following Linnseus, all botanists had persisted in classi- 
fying the strawberry as hermaphrodite, since it is mainly 
so in nature; the effect of cultivation and hybridization 
upon the sexual organs of certain varieties either had 
been unnoticed or ignored. At the age of nineteen, 
Duchesne published his remarkable "Histoire Naturelle 
des Fraisiers," in which he described all the known 
varieties, classified them according to botanical origin 
and reported observations upon sex in the Hautbois. 
At that time it was the popular belief that the Hautbois 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 95 

was degenerating or "running out," since it had become 
less fruitful under cultivation. With unusual independ- 
ence of observation, the youthful botanist proved that 
the real reason for this degeneracy was that the male 
plants, being unfruitful, had been gradually weeded out 
of gardens, leaving the female plants without poUinizers. 
This had escaped attention, since most of the plants of the 
Hautbois are apparently hermaphrodite, but in female 
plants the anthers bear little or no pollen, and in male 
plants the pistils do not function. Duchesne also ob- 
served that these conditions existed in the Chili straw- 
berry, but to a less degree. When his observations were 
published he was reprimanded by his former teacher, 
Linnaeus, who intimated that what Duchesne really had 
seen was blossoms that had been made abortive by 
frost ! 

Following Duchesne's discovery, French gardeners 
practiced mixed planting to advantage with both the 
Hautbois and the Chili. No application was made of 
it outside of France for over fifty years. The accuracy of 
Duchesne's observation was first verified in England by 
Michael Keens, a gardener of Isle worth, in 1809. In 
1817 he said : ^ "There are many different sorts of Haut- 
boys; one has the male and female organs in the same 
blossoms and bears very freely; but that which I most 
approve is the one which contain the male organs in one 
blossom and the female in another. These bear fruit 
of the finest colour and of far superior flavour. In select- 
ing these plants, care must be taken that there are not 
too many male plants among them ; for, as these bear no 
fruit, they are apt to make more runners than the females. 
I consider one male to ten females a proper proportion 
1 Trans. Royal Hort. Soc, Vol. II (1818), p. 396. 



96 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

for an abundant crop. I learned the necessity of mixing 
the male plants with the others by experience in 1809." 

In 1826 James Barnet called attention to the fact that 
in the true Chili strawberry "the stamens are usually 
entirely abortive or very rarely produce anthers suffi- 
ciently supplied with pollen to fecundate the stigmas; 
hence, the plants are rarely productive." ^ He advised : 
"A little attention, however, will remedy this defect, for 
it is not difficult to contrive to have plants of the Rose- 
berry (a variety of F. Virginiana) or some other free and 
late-flowering variety, ready for the purpose." The 
first importation of the Chili strawberry consisted of 
pistillate plants, but part of the later importations were 
hermaphrodite. 

The new varieties of the Pine soon drove the Haut- 
bois and Chili from English gardens and with them the 
pollination problem. Practically all English varieties 
since then have been staminate. According to R. L. 
Castle, the Crescent, which sometimes is weakly stami- 
nate in America, but usually is pistillate, is strongly stam- 
inate when grown in England.^ Most English horticul- 
turists seem to have lost faith in the existence of a sepa- 
ration of the sexes in the strawberry plant. As late as 
1863 Lindley inquired : " Is it true that some plants of 
the American strawberry are absolutely female?" and 
expressed a doubt as to whether there really was, or could 
be, such a thing as a pistillate variety of strawberry, 
except as a result of very poor culture. 

Early pollination troubles in America. — It was a very 
real and troublesome problem in America, however. 
The Hautbois was introduced into North American g^ 

1 Trans. Roval Hort. Soc, Vol. VI (1826), p. 207. -lOO I 

2 Ibid., Vol. XXIX (1904), p. 146. 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 97 

dens about 1750 and gave trouble from the beginning. 
Profiting by the observations of Duchesne, Bernard Mc- 
Mahon, in his "American Gardeners' Calendar," published 
in 1806, warned his readers: "If the plants are promis- 
cuously taken from the beds without care, a great number 
of them will become barren ; these are, by the gardeners, 
termed * blind,' which is when there are plenty of flowers 
but no fruit produced. If these flowers are well examined, 
they will be found to want the female organs of genera- 
tion, most of them abounding with stamina, but there are 
few, if any, stiles. The Hautbois strawberry is more 
subject to this than any of the other kinds." 

There does not appear to have been any attempt to 
apply this experience to the pistillate varieties of F. Vir- 
giniana then under cultivation, which included such 
standard sorts as Early Hudson, Hudson's Bay and 
Methven Scarlet, until about 1820. In 1822 William 
Curr, of New York, read a paper on the culture of the 
Hudson's Bay before the Horticultural Society of New 
York, in which he stated : " A great deal lies in choosing 
proper plants; if they are taken promiscuously, the 
greater part will prove barren, producing plenty of flowers, 
but no fruit." 

The following year William Prince called attention to 
Keens' experience with the Hautbois in his "Short Trea- 
tise on Horticulture." In 1823 a correspondent of 
The American Farmer complained: "My strawberry 
vines are thick and luxuriant; they blossom well and 
then blight. How can the blight be prevented?" A 
New Jersey reader replied that it was due to the "undue 
proportion of male and female plants," and added: "It 
may easUy be discovered by the stamens which are the 
male blossoms. This is a matter perfectly understood by 



98 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

our best gardeners, that an attention to the selection of 
the plants with reference to sex is well rewarded by an 
increased quantity of fruit." 

As long as strawberry culture was confined to the home 
garden, where several varieties usually w^ere grown, one 
of which was likely to be a staminate, there was less 
likelihood of loss; but the numerous complaints about 
"barren" plants and "blasted" blossoms, between 
1800 and 1840, indicate that failure to set fruit, because of 
poor pollination, was quite general and very discourag- 
ing. The strawberry was known as a fickle fruit. "In 
those days," says Parker Earle, "a mystery overhung 
strawberry growing. Many people grew strawberry 
plants in their gardens, but an inscrutable providence 
withheld the fruit." 

The secret of Ahergnst. — When field culture of the 
strawberry began, about 1820, the loss from poor polli- 
nation became more impressive. There was not a great 
deal of complaint in the East, where the dominant varie- 
ties were Large Early Scarlet, Crimson Cone and Red 
Wood, which were staminate ; but in the vicinity of Cin- 
cinnati, where Early Hudson, a pistillate variety, was the 
leading sort, the loss was serious. It was noticed that 
one man, a German gardener named Abergust, always had 
large crops of Early Hudson, which he sold for thhty-five 
to forty cents a quart and from which he made a com- 
petence. For many years he refused to tell his neighbors 
how he was able to secure these remarkable results. 
Evidently his wife figured largely in the enterprise, 
for in 1854, Nicholas Longworth related : ^ " Until the 
secret was disclosed, Mrs. Abergust was our only gar- 
dener who could raise the strawberry profitably. From 
^ Western Horticultural Review, IV (1854), p. 288. 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 99 

the same space of ground she raised five times the quan- 
tity of fruit as her neighbors, much larger in size and 
commanding a higher price. In the spring she thinned 
her beds and threw plants in the street. Her neighbors, 
hoping to duplicate her excellent results, picked them up 
and planted them, but not a single fruit would they pro- 
duce, for she had thrown out her staminate only." 

A chance remark by one of the Abergust boys revealed 
the secret. As related by J. A. Warder : ^ " The boy was 
sauntering through Mr. Longworth's strawberry patch, 
whittling. Said the boy : * Mr. Longworth, I reckon you 
won't have many berries; nearly all of your plants are 
males.' Mr. Longworth replied : * Won't I have a few ? ' 
' Yes, I reckon so ; you will have a few there, and there, 
and there,' said he, pointing to different spots in the bed. 
Mr. Longworth had his wits about him and stuck stakes 
where the boy said there would be fruit, and there the 
fruit grew." This was the clue that led him to investi- 
gate the subject. "I soon discovered," said Longworth, 
"that there were what he called male and female plants, 
and communicated this fact to our market gardeners," 
who immediately took advantage of it. Ten years later 
Cincinnati led the world in strawberry production; the 
price dropped from thirty-seven cents to less than ten 
cents a quart, and Abergust ceased to cultivate them. 
It was shown that he had practiced mixed planting for 
many years and had discovered its advantages independ- 
ently. Being a plain, unlettered man, it was not likely 
that he had ever heard of the work of Duchesne or Keens. 

The " strawberry war." — Longworth called attention 
to his discovery in the Magazine of Horticulture for 
1834, but it aroused little interest outside of Cincinnati. 
1 Kept. lU. State Agr. Soc, III (1858-9), p. 384. 



100 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

The introduction of the Hovey, in 1838, was the signal for 
an awakening of interest in strawberry polHnation. 
With the prestige of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society and the Magazine of Horticulture behind it, the 
Hovey was quickly disseminated to all parts of North 
America. In introducing his seedling, Hovey claimed: 
"In some varieties of strawberry there are both sterile 
and fertile plants, generally termed male and female. 
This is not the case with this new seedling ; every flower 
is perfect and has a due proportion of both stamens and 
pistils." ^ When the Hovey reached Cincinnati, how- 
ever, it was immediately identified by the keen observers 
there as a pistillate. 

The first shot in what was soon to be called "the straw- 
berry war" was fired by Longworth in 1842.^ He in- 
formed the Editor of 
the Magazine of Hor- 
ticulture: "Your straw- 
berry is, in common 
with the Methven 
Castle, Hudson, and 

Male flower. Female flomr. othcr gOod bcrrlcS that 

Fig. 7. — "A male and female blossom ppoduCC very large fruit, 
of the Hudson," as drawn by Nicholas i p .• • .i, i 

Longworth, in 1842. defective in the male 

organs, and requires 
other plants, perfect in the male organs, near them." 
He illustrated this article with a drawing of "a male and 
a female blossom of Hudson" (Fig. 7). The female 
blossom shown by Longworth is a pistillate, but the blos- 
som he designates as "male" is hermaphrodite, which 
indicates that many of the plants called male at that 

1 Mag. Hon., 6 (1840), p. 293. 

2 IhU., 8 (1842), pp. 257-262. 





PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 101 

time were really hermaphrodite. After examining his 
own stock of plants, Hovey admitted the contention of 
Longworth, and stated that part of his plants were pis- 
tillate and part staminate. The next year, however 
(1843), Hovey completely reversed himself, and declared 
positively : ^ " We believe it is now generally the received 
opinion by all intelligent cultivators that there is no ne- 
cessity of making any distinction in regard to the sexual 
character of the plants when forming new beds. The 
idea of male and female flowers, first originated, we be- 
lieve, by Mr. Longworth, of Ohio, is now considered as 
exploded. That there may be fertile and sterile beds is 
not denied, but the cause of their sterile character is to 
be sought, not in a naturally defective organization of 
the blossom, but rather in the mode of cultivation applied 
to the plants." He considered "repletion," or too much 
nourishment, a cause of sterility, and cited beds of Hovey 
which were barren under high culture, trenching and 
heavy manuring, that became productive when neglected. 
He concluded: "Cultivation, alone, creates sterile, or 
fertile, plants." 

Fortunately, Longworth was a gentleman with a pug- 
nacious regard for his own convictions, and no respecter of 
authority. Not even Hovey's reference to "intelligent" 
cultivators was needed to incite him to battle. The- 
issue was raised, and the controversy began. It was 
waged with much heat from 1842 to 1848 and harmony 
was not fully restored for several years thereafter. Long- 
worth and the loyal Cincinnati Horticultural Society 
stood boldly against Hovey, Downing, Meehan and prac- 
tically all other prominent horticulturists, both in Amer- 
ica and in Europe. One can imagine the feelings of 
1 Mag. HorL, 9 (1843), p. 415. 



102 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Longworth when he sent some pistillate plants to the Pres- 
ident of the London Horticultural Society, who replied 
that he was not aware that there were strawberry plants 
that would not bear fruit without impregnation from 
other plants and suggested that the failure was due to 
frost ! 

Infliience of culture on sex. — Both of the leading 
combatants were guilty of error. After denying that 
his seedling would be benefited at all by cross-pollination, 
Hovey finally settled down to the contention that it had 
been hermaphrodite when he introduced it, but had since 
become pistillate, having degenerated as a result- of poor 
culture. Hovey had borrowed this theory from A. J. 
Downing, who, in turn, had absorbed it from England. 
English horticulturists, especially Lindley, stoutly main- 
tained that if there were any such degenerates in America 
as pistillate strawberry plants they were the inevitable 
result of indifferent care, barren soil or an uncongenial 
climate ; good culture — or transplanting them to Eng- 
land — would make them whole again.^ Downing re- 
flected this view when he said,^ " Hovey's Seedling and 
some other sorts do vary from a state that is the normal 
or perfect one of the strawberry (that is, with perfect 
flowers), into a pistillate or staminate form." He cited, 
in support of his theory, beds of Hovey that he had ex- 
amined in which practically all the flowers were perfect the 
first year they were planted. The second year, he says, 
"More than one-third of the plants now bear pistillate 
blossoms. Of the remaining two-thirds many bear perfect 
blossoms, as they had done previously, while a few bear 
imperfect staminate blossoms. Next year we predict that 
this bed will have changed almost entirely to pistillate." 
1 The Horticulturist, 1 (1847), p. 85. ^ 75^^?., p. 572. 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 103 

He concluded : " If varieties of the Pine are allowed to 
bear twice or more on the same roots, they will degenerate 
into pistillate or staminate forms. The staminate or 
pistillate forms once reached, we are inclined to think 
from experiments we have made, that it is permanent. 
Hovey's Seedling at first was a perfect sort in its flower, 
but at this moment (1847) more than half of the plants 
in the country have become pistillate." Downing com- 
bated the recommendation of Longworth, "of always 
making a plantation with a certain proportion of what he 
terms male plants — the only use of which is to supply 
stamens or pollen to the other imperfect plants. The 
true course is not to waste the ground by putting out 
barren or male plants, but carefully to select, when there 
is any tendency to sterility, only runners from the most 
fruitful perfect plants. In this way good plantations 
will be secured, with every plant productive." 

While Downing's theory that varieties of strawberries 
change in sex under cultivation was a fallacy, in the main, 
there is enough confirmatory evidence to make it seem 
plausible. Few pistillate varieties are absolutely devoid 
of stamens and produce no pollen whatever. The Hovey 
belonged to the large group of pistillates that normally 
have very small stamens and, as a rule, do not produce 
a sufficient amount of pollen to properly fertilize the 
blossoms. Hovey said his seedling "had both pistils 
and stamens, the latter quite short and hidden under the 
receptacle." When these varieties are planted in rich 
soil they tend to become more nearly staminate. When 
Thomas Meehan planted pistillate varieties in pots and 
forced them in the greenhouse, many of the blossoms 
were staminate. This convinced him that sex in the 
strawberry is "merely a matter of nutrition." He 



104 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

held that the deficiency of stamens is "not constitutional, 
but accidental and perfectly under control." This 
extreme statement is not justified; but that sex in the 
strawberry can be modified somewhat by cultural condi- 
tions cannot be disputed. 

The distinction between pistillate and staminate va- 
rieties is wholly relative. A pistillate variety is not one 
that lacks stamens, and produces no pollen whatever, 
but one that, under average conditions, is not dependable 
in self-pollination. Probably most of the conflicting 
observations concerning the sex of the Hovey arose from 
a misunderstanding on this point. It is certain that 
much confusion was due, also, to carelessness in propaga- 
tion and culture. At that time the strawberry bed 
frequently was kept in the same place for many years; 
it was easy for varieties to run together and for seed- 
lings to spring up in it. Another probable source of 
error was the fact that true male plants multiplied in the 
bed so much faster than the pistillate plants that they 
soon ran out the pistillate, if the beds were neglected. 
Charles Downing advised that staminate plants be set 
at the end of a short row with pistillate plants between 
them, in the same tow. The two soon ran together and 
became indistinguishable. 

Report of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society. — On 
the other hand, Longworth was equally in error. Al- 
though right in his main thesis that the Hovey, Early 
Hudson and other pistillate varieties could not be ex- 
pected to be fruitful unless planted with a pollinizer, he 
was wrong in his contention that pistillate varieties were 
the only kind worth growing. He maintained that her- 
maphrodite plants were of little value for fruiting; they 
were serviceable only for pollinating pistillate sorts, and 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 105 

not nearly as valuable for that purpose as pure male 
plants, hence they should be discarded. At his request, 
the Cincinnati Horticultural Society appointed a com- 
mittee to investigate the subject. On June 13, 1846, 
this committee reported : ^ "No staminate plants can be 
depended upon by the cultivator as heavy bearers, al- 
though, from some unknown causes, the pistils may be so 
well developed as to be followed by a good crop some 
years and in some situations. 

" There is no such thing yet known to us as a perfect 
flowering strawberry plant in which the blossoms will 
all be uniformly so well provided with both sets of organs 
as to be followed with perfect fruit every year. 

"The only method of producing this delicious fruit with 
any degree of certainty is to set out plants of both the 
sexual classes, the relative proportions of each to be deter- 
mined by experience." 

On April 15, 1854, "after examining millions of blos- 
soms," J. A. Warder, the Secretary of the Society, pub- 
lished the following "finality" on the subject : ^ 

"Wild or cultivated, the strawberry presents, in its 
varieties, four distinct forms or characters of inflorescence : 

"First: Those called 'pistillate' from the fact that the 
stamens are abortive and not to be found without a dis- 
section of the flower. These require extrinsic impregna- 
tion. 

"Second: Those called 'staminate,' which are per- 
fectly destitute of even the rudiments of pistils and are 
necessarily fruitless. 

1 "Culture of the Strawberry," by Nicholas Longworth, in 
"The Culture of the Grape and Wine-making," by Robert 
Buchanan, 6th ed., 1860, p. 136. 

2 The Country Gentleman, 1854, p. 267. 



106 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

"Third: Those called 'hermaphrodite,' or * perfect/ 
having both sets of organs (stamens and pistils) appar- 
ently well developed. They are not generally good and 
certain bearers as we should expect them to be. With 
few exceptions, they bear poorly, owing to some unob- 
served defect, probably in the pistils. 

" Fourth : A rare class, a sort of subdivision of the pre- 
ceding, has not only hermaphrodite flowers, but also some 
on the same truss that are of pistillate character, and 
sometimes in the same plant a truss will be seen on which 
all the flowers are pistillate." 

It was also stated as the conviction of the Society, 
"that the sexual characters of each seedling will be re- 
tained in its increase by runners so long as the variety 
remains extant, except for minor variations." 

This carefully prepared statement would seem to show, 
beyond question, that true male plants, wholly devoid 
of pistils, were common at that time. The most striking 
characteristic of these male plants was extreme vigor. 
"If you plant but one staminate to twenty pistillates, 
the staminate will, in two years, take entire possession 
and root out the pistillates," asserted Longworth. "Hav- 
ing no fruit to exhaust them, they make ten new plants 
where the pistillates form one." ^ As late as 1875, J. M. 
Smith, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, warned growers not to 
allow male plants to take possession of the beds. Not- 
withstanding this disadvantage, Longworth and his 
neighbors preferred these exuberant males for planting 
with pistillates and could see no advantage in growing 
the hermaphrodite sorts, even as pollinizers for the 
pistillates. So firmly convinced was Longworth that 

1 "The Culture of the Grape and Wine-making," by Robert 
Buchanan, p. 124 (6th ed., 1860). 



PACKAGES, TRAINING, POLLINATION 107 



there was no virtue in hermaphrodite varieties that he 
offered five hundred dollars to anybody who would pro- 
duce one that was really prolific. This challenge was 
accepted by W. R. Prince, of Flushing, New York, with 
his Primate, but no decision was made. 

The final vindication of " Longworth's Theory.'' — Time 
justified the chief contention of Longworth. One of the 
first to be converted was Hovey 
himself. In 1845 he ad- 
mitted : ^ " Enough informa- 
tion has been elicited to show 
that with some sorts there is 
a tendency to barrenness when 
grown in a plantation away 
from other kinds. Let the 
causes be what they may, it 
is sufficient for all practical 
purposes to know that the 
most abundant crop can be 
produced by planting some 
sort, abounding in staminate Fig. 8. — Nicholas Long- 

r, ' .1 ' ' ', p worth, who directed attention 

flowers, m the near vicmity of to the pollination problem. 
those which do not produce 

them." The following year he unreservedly endorsed 
"Longworth's Theory." Possibly the fact that his 
Boston Pine, introduced in 1845, was a strong hermaph- 
rodite, and immediately became popular among the mar- 
ket gardeners near Boston for poUinizing the Hovey, 
may have had something to do with his conversion. 
In 1851 Longworth, also, contributed to the humor of 
the situation by introducing the Longworth, a hermaph- 
rodite variety; manifestly he could not continue to 
1 Mag. Hort., 1845, p. 293. 




108 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

preach the worthlessness of hermaphrodites thereafter. 
By 1855 the use of hermaphrodite varieties for polHnat- 
ing pistillate sorts was quite general, and true male 
plants gradually disappeared. The introduction of the 
Wilson, three years later, placed in the field another 
variety that quickly and permanently disproved the 
theory that no hermaphrodite sort can be as productive 
as pistillates. 

The "strawberry war" was waged on three proposi- 
tions : 

1. Are there pistillate varieties that must be planted 
near pollen-bearing sorts in order to be fruitful ? 

2. Can the sex of a variety be changed from stami- 
nate to pistillate by culture? 

3. Are pistillate varieties more productive and val- 
uable than staminate sorts ? 

The first proposition was answered in the affirmative; 
the latter two in the negative. Nicholas Long worth 
died on February 14, 1863. He won his fight, almost 
single-handed, against practically all the horticultural 
authorities of the East, and contributed largely to the 
advancement of the strawberry industry in North America. 



CHAPTER IV 

ORIGIN AND BOTANY 

The strawberry has been in cultivation but a short 
time, as compared with other fruits. It has been grown 
in gardens less than 600 years and was not cultivated 
commercially to any extent until the nineteenth century. 
The garden strawberry of North America was developed 
very largely in Europe; it is necessary to consider the 
history of the strawberry in Europe in order to have a 
fair perspective of its comparatively short career on this 
continent. 

Early History in Europe 

De CandoUe states that the strawberry was not culti- 
vated by the Greeks or Romans. Columella does not 
mention the strawberry in his long list of cultivated plants. 
Probably the first mention of the strawberry in print 
was by Nicholas Myrepsus, a Greek doctor of the thir- 
teenth century. Ovid refers to arbutus fructus mon- 
tanague fragra; and Pliny to terrestris fragris, or ground 
strawberry. The lines of Virgil, 

"Ye boys that gather flowers and strawberries, 
Lo, hid within the grass, an adder lies ; " 

refer to the wild F. vesca, or Wood strawberry. The straw- 
berry was first grown in gardens, to any considerable 
extent, in France. According to E. A. Bunyard,^ "docu- 
1 Jour. Royal Hort. Soc, Vol. 39, Pt. 3 (1913), pp. 541-542. 
109 



110 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



ments exist which prove that it was grown in the early 
part of the fourteenth century in France. The Royal 
Gardens of the Louvre, under Charles V, possessed no 
fewer than 1,200 plants, and many other records testify 
to the appreciation of the fruit by its presence in French 
gardens of this period." 

References in early English writings, — The strawberry 
did not appear in English writings until about 1430, 

when John Lydgate wrote a 
song called " London Lick- 
penny," in which he refers to 
"straeberry rype" as a street 
cry of London. The earliest 
illustration of the strawberry is 
in the Mainz " Herbarius, " pub- 
lished in 1454, as '' Fragaria.'' 
This old herbal describes its 
supposed medicinal properties 
at length, but no mention is 
made of culture. In the " Privy 
Fig. 9. — Drawing of the Purse Expenses of Henry VIII, " 
strawberry in Parkinson's for 1530, there is an item for the 

"Paradisus Terrestris," pub- , « ,, , , - , 

lished in 1629. purchase 01 a pottle of straw- 

berries" for 10 d. The pottle 
was a very small basket, shaped like an inverted cone, 
often holding less than half a pint ; it is evidence of the 
small size of the fruit at that time. The pottle was used 
somewhat near Boston about 1820 (page 76). The Wood 
strawberry must have been brought into cultivation 
about then, for in 1556 Ruellius said it produced larger 
fruit when grown in the garden. In Tusser's " Five Hun- 
dred Points of Good Husbandry" (1557), we read, 
under "September's Husbandrie" : 




ORIGIN AND BOTANY 111 

" Wife into the garden and set me a plot 
" With Strawberry roots, the best to be got ; 
"Such growing abroad among thorns in the wood, 
" Well chosen and picked, proved excellent good." 

At the close of the sixteenth century the Wood straw- 
berry was common in English gardens, but no varieties 
had appeared ; the garden plants were transplanted from 
the wild. In his "Gardeners' Labyrinth" (1593), Hyll 
says: "They be much eaten at all men's tables in the 
sommer time with wine and sugar, and they will grow 
in gardens until the bigness of the mulberry." According 
to him, the strawberry "requires small labour, but, by 
diligence of the Gardener, becometh so great that the 
same yieldeth faire and big Berries as the Berries of the 
Bramble in the hedge." In Richard III (1597), Shake- 
speare makes the Duke of Gloucester say : 

"My Lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn, 
"I saw good strawberries in your garden there; 
"I do beseech you, send for some of them." 

Gerarde (1597) enumerates but three varieties, — the 
white, green and red fruited. In 1629 Parkinson wrote, 
in his " Paradisus Terrestris " : " There be divers forts of 
Strawberries. The wilde Strawberry that groweth in 
the woods is our Garden Strawberry, but bettered by the 
foyle and tranf planting." He describes the Red, Green, 
White, Bohemia and Virginia, the latter being "neere 
five inches about." 

Origin of the name. — The wild strawberry, especially 
the Scarlet, well deserves its botanical name, Fragaria 
(from the Latin fragro, to emit a sweet odor), although 
this delightful aroma is sadly lacking in many modern 



112 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

varieties. From the Latin name there have come the 
Spanish Freza and the Itahan Planta di Fragola. In the 
Spanish of South America it is Fndilla, or Uttle plant. 
The French call it Fraisier from the name of the French- 
man who introduced the Chilean species into Europe. 
The German name is Erdberre, or earth berry. 

The origin of the English name is in doubt. Some trace 
it to the ancient custom among children of selling the 
wild fruit strung on straws. This is mentioned by Browne 
in his "Britania's Pistoral." "As a boy in Ireland," 
related a correspondent of The Canadian Horticulturist, 
in 1884, "I used to string them on what we called 'wind 
straw,' or straws of timothy grass." Others see in the 
name a reference to the common use of a straw mulch 
around the plants. In 1806, Sir Joseph Banks said : ^ 
"The custom of laying straw on the strawberry plants 
when their fruit begins to swell is probably very old in 
this country; the name of the fruit bears testimony in 
favor of this conjecture, for the plant has no relation to 
straw in any other way, and no other European language 
applies the idea of straw in any shape to the name of the 
berry or to the plant that bears it." 

It has been suggested, also, that the word refers to the 
resemblance of the old, dry runners to straw; or to the 
fact that the plant is commonly found growing among the 
straw, or dry, wild grass of old fields. None of these 
surmises, however, is as plausible as the explanation of 
the philologist, who concludes that strawberry is from the 
Anglo-Saxon word " streouberrie," which was first spelled 
in modern fashion by Turner, in 1538. This was derived 
from "strae" or "strahen " (to scatter), referring to the 
erratic habit of the runners in straying or wandering about, 
1 Trans. Hort. Soc. of London, Vol. I (1806), p. 54. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 113 

being strewed — anciently "strawed'* — over the ground. 
It is significant that the first reference to this fruit in Eng- 
lish writings, by John Lydgate, was to the "straeberry." 

Okigin of the Gakden Strawbekry of Europe 

At the close of the sixteenth century the Wood straw- 
berry, F. vesca, had shown little capacity for improvement 
as grown in English gardens. After having been in culti- 
vation over a century, it had not produced varieties that 
were better than the wild form. On the continent, 
however, where F. vesca had been grown in gardens for 
three hundred years, one variety appeared a little later 
that had distinct merit. When Duchesne published his 
valuable monograph on this fruit, in 1766, the favorite 
market variety near Paris was the Fressant, at first called 
the Cappron, or Chaperon. This was a seedling of F. 
vesca, with a large, pale berry, that had been produced 
about 1660 at Montreuil, France. It was the first culti- 
vated variety and the first improved seedling of which 
there is record. The other European species, F. elatior, 
the Hautbois, had not been grown in gardens to any extent 
and had produced no valuable varieties. At the close of 
the sixteenth century there had been practically no im- 
provement in the European species. There was little 
progress until the introduction of the two American 
species, F. virginiana and F. chiloensis. 

The Virginian strawberry was introduced into Europe 
from North America early in the seventeenth century, 
possibly by Tradescant. In 1624 it was commended in 
France by Jean Robin, botanist to Louis XIII. The 
attractive color, large size, acceptable flavor and enticing 
fragrance of this species made it a favorite at once. At 



114 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

first it gave indifferent results in many places because it 
ran to vines under high culture. Parkinson said, in 1629 : 
"The Virginian strawberry carryeth the greateft leafe 
of any other except the Bohemian; but fcarce can one 
Strawberry be feene ripe among a number of plants. I 
thinke the reafon thereof to be the want of skill or induftry 
to order it right. Strawberries will not bear kindly if you 
suffer them to grow with many strings." 

According to Barnet, no improved varieties were pro- 
duced from the Scarlet for more than one hundred years 
after it was introduced, either by seed or by importation 
from America. Perhaps its superfluity of runners was 
one reason why it was neglected at first. However, it 
showed a capacity for variation and improvement that 
the Wood strawberry did not. Early in the eighteenth 
century it was found that new varieties could be produced 
from it, differing quite materially from the parent, merely 
by sowing seeds. In 1766 Duchesne mentioned a dis- 
tinct variety of the Scarlet. In 1824 Barnet described 
twenty-six varieties, most of which were quite superior to 
the type. During the latter part of the eighteenth and 
the first part of the nineteenth centuries, varieties of the 
Scarlet held almost undisputed sway in English gardens. 
According to Weathers, the Old Scarlet, which is the type 
of F. virginiana, still is grown in England and Scotland 
for making jam. 

Introduction of the Chilean. — Although the Scarlet 
had shown greater capacity for improvement than the 
Wood and Hautbois, still its varieties were very little 
superior in size of berry to the best wild plants, and it was 
generally agreed that none surpassed the berries of the wild 
Scarlet in flavor. The strawberries of that period were of 
good quality, but small. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 115 

The species that was to contribute the attribute of 
size to the modern strawberry was introduced into Europe 
in 1712 by a French officer named Frezier, who found it 
in his travels through South America. F. chiloensis is 
indigenous to Chile and other parts of the coast region of 
North and South America. Frezier found it in Chile, 
both wild and cultivated, and was so much impressed 
with the size of its berries — he described them as "the 
size of hen's eggs'' — that he determined to carry it to 
his home in Marseille. The plants of this first importa- 
tion are thought to have come from Concepcion, Chile, 
and not from the island of Chiloe. It is related that during 
the long voyage the supply of water nearly gave out and 
Frezier was obliged to divide his own allowance with his 
plants. Five plants survived. Unfortunately, these were 
all pistillate, so that for many years there was complaint 
that the Chilean was unproductive. Some of the later 
importations were hermaphrodite and were fairly pro- 
ductive. 

One of the original plants was set near Brest, France, 
and was the foundation of a notable commercial straw- 
berry industry at that point ; in 1857 there were nearly 500 
acres of the Chilean at Brest. In 1727 it was introduced 
into England by Philip Miller, but found little favor there. 
It was not grown in Europe to any extent except at Brest. 
In 1766 Duchesne noted that its cultivation had been 
abandoned "on account of its sterility." Later importa- 
tions were more satisfactory, but the species was always 
considered a shy bearer, and tender. 

The Chilean did not vary materially under cultivation. 
In 1824, a century after it was introduced, Barnet knew 
of but two, possibly three, varieties. These differed 
mainly in the color of the fruit. The flavor of the Chilean 



116 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



did not commend it. "As to the Chili," said pungent 
WilKam Cobbett, " it is very Httle superior in flavor to the 
potato." There was little promise for the ameHoration 
of the garden strawberry in pure F. chiloensis. 

The advent of the Pine. — The plant that was to become 
the progenitor of the modern garden strawberry appeared 




Fig. 10. — Old Pine, or Pineapple, the progenitor of the garden 
strawberry. 



in Europe near the middle of the eighteenth century. It 
was first described and illustrated in the seventh edition 
of Philip Miller's " Dictionary of Gardening " (1759) . The 
origin of the Pine strawberry {F. grandiflora, or F. an- 
anassa, referring to the pineapple fragrance of the fruit), 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 117 

is obscure. At one time it was supposed by some to have 
been introduced into Holland from Surinam, which is 
now the coast of Dutch Guinea ; hence it was long called 
the Surinam strawberry. This can hardly be possible, 
since the strawberry is not indigenous to that region. 
Others believed it to be an importation from some part 
of North America, possibly Louisiana, Virginia, or Caro- 
lina. One type of Old Pine was long called the Carolina. 
William Prince, in his "Short Treatise on Horticulture '' 
(1828), says of the Pineapple, or Carolina: "This is a 
native of our own country;" and in 1832, members of 
the Charleston (South Carolina) Horticultural Society, 
spoke of the Carolina as indigenous to that State. No wild 
Fragaria that resembles the Old Pine can be found in 
North America to-day. The robust prairie form of the 
Scarlet, F. mrginiana, var. illinoensis, was thought by 
Decaisne to be the progenitor of the Pine, but the char- 
acters of the two are so distinct that this hypothesis 
hardly seems tenable. 

There remain two much more plausible explanations 
of the origin of the Pine ; first, that it was a seedling of 
F. chiloensis; second, that it was a hybrid between F. 
chiloensis and F. mrginiana. It is possible that there were 
two or more forms of the Pine ; the one introduced into 
France about 1750 and described by Poiteau was some- 
what different from the one introduced into England from 
Holland and described by Miller. The difference between 
the Old Pine, the Carolina, the Bath, the Patagonia, 
Black, and other forms, was so slight, however, that they 
were all grouped as F, grandiflora by Ehrhart in 1792, and 
Comte de Lambertye, who reviewed the botany of Fra- 
garia very thoroughly, considered them identical. 

The hypothesis of Seringe, advanced in 1825, that the 



118 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Pine is a direct modification of the Chilean, was accepted 
by De Candolle in his "Prodromus." This opinion was 
shared by Duhamel, who stated that the Pine could be 
raised from seeds of the Chilean. In more recent years, 
L. H. Bailey has marshaled the arguments of history, 
philosophy and botany, in support of this contention, 
adding thereto an observation upon the behavior of some 
plants of F. chiloensis that he transplanted from Oregon 
to New York.^ Within three years they changed from 
squat, blue-leaved, short-trussed, densely hairy plants 
to "tall-growing, green-leaved, high-trussed and thinly 
haired plants," closely resembling many modern varieties. 
This, however, is not necessarily proof that the modern 
strawberry descended from the Chilean ; it may be merely 
proof of the remarkable plasticity of the species. Equally 
marked variations from the type may be found in the 
wild Chilean as it grows in different parts of the Pacific 
Coast. 

The theory that the Pine is a hybrid between the Vir- 
ginian and Chilean species has found wide acceptance. 
This explanation was first advanced by Duchesne in 1766. 
It is based more largely upon the fact that the Pine is 
quite intermediate in botanical characters between the 
Scarlet and the Chilean than upon definite historical 
evidence. The argument in support of this contention 
was presented by Vilmorin in 1898 : ^ " The first detailed 
account of the large fruited strawberry was given by 
Miller in 1759, with a good figure. As both the Chili 
and the Scarlet, or Virginian strawberry, had been intro- 
duced some forty or fifty years, the opinion expressed by 
Duchesne ('Hist, des Fr.,' page 197), that it is a hybrid 

1 "Survival of the Unlike " (1896), pp. 400-417. 

2 Trans. Royal Hort. Soc, 1898-9, pp. 318-319. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 



119 



between the two last-named sorts, seems to gain much 
credit. The original form, known in England as the Old 
Pine, and in France as fraisier ananas, is to be found in 
gardens to the present day, answering perfectly to the 
elaborate description given by Duchesne ('Hist, des 
Fr.,' pp. 191-194). It is, in fact, intermediate between 
F. chiloensis and F. virginiana, and the pale brownish 
color of the fruit is, in that respect, highly characteristic.'' 
That the Old Pine was quite intermediate in character 
between its supposed parents is shown by the following 
comparison, which is compiled from the descriptions made 
by Barnet, in 1826: 





Old Scarlet 


True Chili 


Old Pine 


Season 


Early 


Late 


Rather late 


Size 


Medium 


Particularly 
large 


Large 


Form 


Globular, with a 
distinct neck 


Irregular, but 
usually ovate 
or blunt-conic, 
not necked 


Ovate conic, 
early fruits 
coxcombed, 
with a neck. 


Color 


Uniform fight 
scarlet, 
sfightly hairy. 


Dull, varnished, 
brownish red 


Uniform bright 
scarlet, slight- 
ly hairy 


Seeds 


Deeply im- 
bedded, in- 
tervals ridged 


Dark brown, 
and project- 
ing 


Slightly im- 
bedded 


Flesh 


Pale scarlet, 
firm, high 
flavored 


Whitish, very 
firm, hollow 
in center, 
with a small 
core, flavor 
moderate 


Pale scarlet, 
generally 
soHd 



120 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 





Old Scaklet 


True Chili 


Old Pine 


Calyx 


Small, spread- 


Very large 


Large, spread- 




ing 




ing, sometimes 
partially re- 
flexed 


Leaf stalks 


Abundant, 


TaU, upright. 


Tall, rather up- 




slightly hairy 


stiff, densely 


right, partial- 






hairy 


ly covered 
with long 
hairs 


Leaflets 


Large oblong, 


Small, nearly 


Small, nearly 




somewhat 


oval, concave. 


oval, spread- 




folded, 


serrations 


ing horizon- 




coarsely and 


very obtuse. 


tally, rounded 




sharply ser- 


upper surface 


serratures, 




rate, smooth 


sHghtly hairy. 


surface 




above the 


shining Mght 


smooth, shin- 




young ones, 


green, under 


ing dark green 




pale, thin 


surface very 


on upper sur- 




texture 


downy, thick 
texture 


face 


Runners 


Numerous, 


Very strong. 


Numerous, 




brown where 


thick, inter- 


large, reddish 




exposed 


nodes very 
long 




Flower 


Short, generally 


Short, strong, 


Half the length 


stalks 


one half the 


very villous. 


of the leaf 




length of the 


much 


stalks, rather 




leaf stalks ; 


branched. 


upright, very 




peduncles of 


branches 


stiff, slightly 




moderate 


spreading 


hairy, branch- 




length 


horizontally. 


ing, with long 






and long stiff 


peduncles 






peduncles 




Flowers 


Abundant, 


Not very large, 


Late, large 




early, 


open late 






medium size 







ORIGIN AND BOTANY 121 

Intermediateness of character does not prove hybridity, 
but it is at least a strong argument for it. The fact that 
the Scarlet and the Chilean cross readily is well known. 
Wilmot's Superb, raised by John Wilmot, of Isleworth, 
England, in 1821, was a cross between the true Chili 
and the Roseberry, a variety of the Scarlet. It resembled 
the Old Pine. About the same time, Thomas Andrew 
Knight made many crosses between the two species and 
raised over 400 seedlings. One of these, the Downton, 
was presumably a mrginiana-chiloensis cross. This variety 
was classified as a Pine. 

The fact that all the plants of F. chiloensis first brought 
from Chile were pistillate has been noted (p. 115 ). 
This gives color to the hybrid hypothesis of the origin of 
the Pine since any seedlings of the Chilean that were 
raised at that time would be hybrids ; and, as has been 
pointed out (p. 96), varieties of the Scarlet were com- 
monly used for pollinating the Chilean. 

Several recent students of the botany of Fragaria have 
dissented from the theory that the Pine was pure F, 
chiloensis. In 1914 C. W. Richardson, an English plant 
breeder, expressed this opinion:^ "Something of the 
origin of the modern garden strawberry is known, but its 
whole history is not. It springs from an old form of 
garden strawberry, the result of crosses between vesca, 
Alpine, and Hautbois. This older form was again crossed 
with F. mrginiana, introduced in 1629, and with F, chiloen- 
sis, introduced in Marseilles in 1712 and to England in 
1727 by Philip Miller. These crosses were again crossed 
with F. ananassa {F. grandiflora) , introduced from Holland 
during the eighteenth century. The origin of this plant 
is unknown. It was said to have been brought from 
1 Jour. Genetics, 3 (1914), p. 173. 



122 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Surinam, where today there are said to be no strawberries. 
It is also said to have been a variety of the Virginian 
brought from CaroHna. It may be a chinensis cross, as 
Holland received many plants from China during the 
eighteenth century. Whatever its origin, all our best 
garden varieties of today are descended from F. ananassa 
crosses. I have selfed eight varieties of garden fruit, 
producing over 1000 plants. Not one resembles a vesca 
or an Alpine, but many show distinct traces of chiloensis, 
more of virginiana and not a few of chinensis J' 

E. A. Bunyard, another English student of Fragaria, 
believes that the original Pine was a seedling of F. chiloensis 
but adds : ^ "To Thomas Andrew Knight and Michael 
Keens must be given the honor of laying the foundation of 
the strawberry of the present day. The tw^o most im- 
portant species had existed for some time in English 
gardens and it was to the crossing of early descendants 
of F. virginiana and F. chiloensis that this success was 
due." And again, "The introduction of the Chilean 
strawberry, F. chiloensis, brought, however, the required 
size into combination with the flavor of the Virginian 
and thus laid the foundation of the fruit as we know it 
today." In 1907, the Count of Solms-Laubach, a 
German authority, made an extended study of the botany, 
classification and development of the strawberry. He 
concluded that the Pine developed in Europe as a result 
of hybridization between F. chiloensis and F. virginiana.^ 
Thus there seems to be fully as much evidence that the 
Pine was a chiloensis-virginiana hybrid as that it was a 
direct modification of chiloensis. The original Pine straw- 
berry still is found in English gardens and conservatories. 

1 Jour. Royal Hort. Soc, Vol. 39, pt. 3 (1913), p. 547. 

2 Bot. Ztg. 1 Abt. 65 (1907), Nos. 3-4, pp. 1-76. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 123 

We have a reminiscence of this interesting plant in the 
Pineapple, a North American variety introduced in 1902. 

Keens' Seedling. — Whatever uncertainty may exist 
concerning the exact botanical origin of the Old Pine, 
there is no question about the decided influence that it 
exerted in the evolution of the garden strawberry. Vari- 
eties of the Pine increased rapidly. When Barnet wrote 
his famous monograph, in 1824, there were twenty dis- 
tinct varieties, including the Black strawberries, which 
were practically the same. The first variety to achieve 
marked prominence was Keens' Seedling. The introduc- 
tion of this variety, in 1821, is the beginning of the modern 
race of large-fruited varieties. In 1806 Michael Keens, 
a market gardener of Isleworth, sowed seeds of the White 
Carolina, also called the Large White Chili, a variety which 
Barnet classified as a Pine. Most of the seedlings were 
white. One of the best he introduced as Keens' Im- 
perial. This variety attracted little attention and is 
of interest only because it was the seed parent of Keens' 
Seedling, in 1819. Keens first exhibited this seedling 
before the London Horticultural Society in 1821. It 
so far surpassed all other varieties in size and flavor that 
it won instant and enthusiastic recognition. The 
Society executed an excellent colored plate of the variety 
(Fig. 11) and presented the originator with a silver cup, 
which still may be seen in London. Keens' Seedling be- 
came the principal parent of modern European varieties. 
It is still grown and valued in Europe. 

Keens' Seedling was a typical Pine, as may be seen from 
the following description, made by Barnet, in 1826 : ^ 
"The fruit is very large, round, or ovate, when ripe of 
a very dark purplish scarlet next the sun, the other side 

1 Trans. Hort. Soe. of London, Vol. VI (1826), pp. 200-201. 



124 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



paler, slightly hairy; seeds a little imbedded in the 
polished surface of the fruit, which has usually a furrow 
at the apex; the flesh is firm, solid, scarlet, without any 
separable core, tolerably high flavor. The calyx is of 

modern size, hairy, 
incurved. The foot 
stalks of the leaves 
are tall, slightly 
hairy ; the leaflets 
very large, roundish, 
for the most part flat, 
reclined, of a very 
smooth shining dark 
green, with coarse 
serratures which are 
large and rounded. 
The runners are 
small, numerous, 
greenish yellow, and 
^ slightly hairy. The 
scapes are of mod- 
erate length, some- 
times very short 
branched, with 
short, weak, clus- 
tered peduncles." 
Keens' Seedling was not the result of hand crossing; 
it was produced from berries of Keens' Imperial that had 
been open to natural cross-pollination, so its exact parent- 
age is not known. The first extended and accurate straw- 
berry breeding was by Thomas Andrew Knight, who used 
F. virginiana, F. chiloensw and F. grandiflora in his crosses. 
Of his seedlings, only the Downton and the Elton achieved 




Fig. 11. — Keens' Seedling, the first improved 
variety ; introduced in 1821. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 125 

distinction ; they have entered somewhat into the lineage 
of modern European varieties, though not as much as 
Keens' SeedHng. As a result of his work with the three 
types, Knight concluded : " I believe all to be varieties 
only of one species, for all may be made to breed together 
indiscriminately ; and I have found that similar varieties 
may be obtained from the seeds of any other." 

Oeigin of the Gakden Steawberky of North 
America ^ 

In the evolution of the garden strawberry of North 
America, the native species, F. virginiana, has been much 
more prominent than it was in the evolution of the garden 
strawberry of Europe. In recent years, however, there 
seems to have been a tendency to consider it a rather 
negligible factor. A recent bulletin states : " This species 
has given but few varieties, and they have soon dropped 
out of cultivation." This conclusion is hardly justified 
from the historical facts now to be presented. 

The Virginian or Scarlet strawberry was the only kind 
known in early colonial days. The Hautbois, Alpine, 
Wood and Chilean were not introduced until about 
1750, and the Pine about 1790. With the exception of 
the Wood, none of these were grown here, save in the 
gardens of a few amateurs who could afford to pet them. 
The Red Wood was valued by market gardeners near 
Boston between 1820 and 1850. About 1820 several 
nurseries began to disseminate improved varieties of the 
Scarlet, notably Early Hudson, Hudson's Bay, Methven 
Scarlet, and Large Early Scarlet. The latter variety and 

1 First publislied in the Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual 
Meeting of the Society for Horticultural Science (1915). 



126 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Red Wood dominated the Boston market until the intro- 
duction of the Hovey, in 1838. Between 1820 and 1840 
the New York market was suppHed chiefly with Crimson 
Cone or Scarlet Runner, a variety of the Scarlet, raised 
mainly near Hackensack, New Jersey. Anne Arundel 
county, Maryland, began to grow strawberries for 
Baltimore and Philadelphia about 1815; the varieties 
were Hart, Large Early Scarlet and Stewart, all varieties 
of the Scarlet. Following the production of Keens' 
Seedling, in 1819, a large number of varieties of the Pine 
were introduced here. None achieved prominence save 
the Mulberry, which was largely grown near Boston about 
1835. At the close of this period, with the introduction 
of the Hovey in 1838, such small beginnings in commercial 
strawberry culture as had been made were almost wholly 
with varieties of F. virginiana. 

The Hovey proved decidedly disappointing as a com- 
mercial sort, although valued highly for home use. It did 
not displace Large Early Scarlet, Hudson's Bay, Early 
Hudson, Crimson Cone and other varieties of the Scarlet 
in commercial culture. After 1848 it was rarely quoted 
in any market except Boston. Excluding the wild berries, 
which were brought to market in large quantities, it is 
probable that over ninety-five per cent of the strawberries 
marketed before 1858, when the Wilson rushed to the 
front, were pure varieties of F. virginiana. The Large 
Early Scarlet retained prominence in western New York 
until 1864, and was a leading commercial variety at Digh- 
ton, Massachusetts, until 1865, under the name of "Old 
Virginia " (Fig. 12). It passed out of cultivation in 
North America about 1875, having been the dominant 
variety for seventy-five years. 

Since the passing of Large Early Scarlet no varieties 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 



127 



known to be pure F. mrginiana have been grown largely 
except Cutter's Seedling and Crystal City. The former, 
introduced in 1859, was grown considerably in New Eng- 
land from 1862 to 1875. William H. Hill assures us' that 
itwaspureF.mr- 
giniana. Crystal 
City, or Acme, 
introduced in 
1876, was a pop- 
ular extra early 
sort, especially 
for home use, 
until about 1892. 
This variety was 
very similar to 
Large Early 
Scarlet. 

Several sorts 
introduced more 
recently have 
been supposed to 
be F. virginiana. 
Among these are 
August Luther, 

Michel and Wonder (of Shank). The surmise as to 
their botany is not capable of proof, but they bear so 
much resemblance to the Scarlet that it seems probable 
they are of the blood of that species in some degree. In 
1908 a variety known as Earliest was listed as "an im- 
proved variety of the Iowa wild strawberry." The prairie 
form of F. virginiana has been much more productive of 
improved sorts than the eastern form ; it is larger, more 
variable, and responds more quickly to cultivation. 




Fig. 12. — Large Early Scarlet, a form of P, 
virginiana; the dominant variety in North Amer- 
ica, 1830-1860. 



128 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

This record of F. mrginiana under cultivation in North 
America should be sufficient to clear the species of the 
charge that it has been but a negligible factor. Whether 
it enters into the lineage of modern varieties or not, it has 
contributed largely to the upbuilding of the strawberry 
industry. For over a century varieties of the Scarlet 
held almost undisputed control of the strawberry market of 
North America, limited though it was. 

Historical evidence. — Turning now to the more specula- 
tive phase of the subject — the botanical origin of the 
garden strawberry of today — it must be keenly regretted 
that the parentage of the four varieties from which most 
modern sorts have sprung is so obscure. These stem 
varieties are the Hovey, Wilson, Sharpless and Crescent. 
I have been able to obtain records of 1853 varieties which 
have originated in North America. Of these the parents 
of only 348 are known definitely. Sixty-three are de- 
scendants of Crescent, sixty-nine of Sharpless, forty-eight 
of Wilson and fifty-one of Hovey. Thus approximately 
two thirds of the varieties of known parentage have come 
from the great four. It is a misfortune that the parents 
of none of the four are known with certainty, hence the 
subject must be one for speculation rather than for con- 
clusive proof. 

When CM. Hovey produced his famous seedling he 
made the following six crosses by hand : 

1. Methven Scarlet X Keens' Seedling. 

2. Methven Scarlet X Melon. 

3. Mulberry X Keens' Seedling. 

4. Melon X Keens' Seedling. 

5. Southborough X Prolific Hautbois. 

6. Grove End Scarlet X Keens' Seedling. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 129 

All were varieties of European origin ; Methven Scarlet, 
Southborough and Grove End Scarlet were varieties of 
F. mrginiana, while Keens' Seedling, Mulberry and Melon 
were Pines. Hovey was so unfortunate as to lose his 
labels, so that he never knew positively which cross pro- 
duced the Hovey. In 1840 he asserted,^ "We can, how- 
ever, state that the variety originated from one of the 
first four crosses and in all probability from No. 1 or No. 
4 ; and we have always thought from the latter." Both of 
the parents of Cross No. 4 were Pines. It is this state- 
ment upon which the conclusion that the Hovey was a 
Pine has been largely based. It seems to have been over- 
looked that five years later, perhaps after more careful 
consideration, Hovey stated ^ : " Our seedling we have sup- 
posed was from Methven Scarlet impregnated with Keens' 
Seedling." We are justified, therefore, in concluding that 
it is at least equally probable that the Hovey originated 
from Cross No. 1, in which case one parent was a variety 
of F. mrginiana, as from Cross No. 4, in which both parents 
were Pines. 

Seedlings of the Hovey were scattered over the land, and 
became, in a large measure, the foundation stock of the 
modern strawberry. The fifty-one varieties known to 
have descended from the Hovey are listed on page 189. 
Practically all came down through two noted varieties, 
Green Prolific and Cumberland Triumph. A number, as 
Clyde, Ozark and Sons, are four generations removed from 
the Hovey ; Roosevelt (of Cathcoit) is five, as follows : 

[ Hovey 

I Green Prolific ■! x 
X \ Goliath 

Jucunda 
X { Crescent 

Warfield 

1 Mag. Hort., 1840, p. 293. 2 /^^^^.^ 1545, p. 292, 



130 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Monarch, which originated in 1867, is but two generations 
from the Hovey ; it is still grown in California and Col- 
orado. The Hovey was also one of the probable parents 
of the Longworth, which originated in 1848 and is still a 
commercial variety in California, being the oldest North 
American variety in cultivation. Another probable parent 
of the Longworth was Taylor's Seedling, a variety of F, 
^'illinoensis, the prairie form of F, mrginiana. 

The parents of the three other varieties that have 
entered most largely into the lineage of modern North 
American sorts are equally in doubt. In 1851 James 
Wilson, a gardener near Albany, New York, sowed seeds 
of the Hovey, Black Prince, and Ross' Phoenix. Both of 
the latter were Pines, Black Prince being a seedling of 
Keens' Imperial and a direct descendant of the original 
Pineapple strawberry, while Ross' Phoenix was a seedling 
of Keens' Seedling. These seeds were the result of 
natural pollination, not of hand crossing. James Wilson 
was confident that his seedling was Hovey X Black Prince, 
according to a statement made after his death by his son, 
John Wilson, and this opinion was shared by his contem- 
poraries. This surmise was based upon the appearance 
and behavior of the Wilson and its seedlings, not upon 
authentic records. If we assume that the Hovey was 
one of the parents of the Wilson, then the forty-eight 
varieties that are known to have descended from the Wilson 
are of the same lineage. These are listed on page 190. 

The Sharpless was originated in 1872 by J. K. Sharpless, 
Catawissa, Pennsylvania, from hand-sown mixed seed of 
Jucunda, Charles Downing, Wilson and Col. Cheney. 
The originator believed that it was a seedling of the Charles 
Downing, but this must remain a matter for speculation. 
The Charles Downing was a seedling of Downer's Prolific, 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 131 

which was said to have been bred from the native straw- 
berry of Iowa. If we assume that the surmise of Mr. 
Sharpless was well founded, then the sixty-nine varieties 
known to have descended from his seedling are of F. 
virginiana blood, in part. These are listed on page 191. 

The Crescent was a chance seedling found by William 
Parmalee, of New Haven, Connecticut, in 1870. It has 
been supposed by many to be a pure seedling of F, 
mrginiana, and it certainly shows many of the characters 
of that species, both in plant and fruit ; but this is mere 
conjecture. The sixty-three varieties that have descended 
from it are Hsted on page 191. 

Thus a majority of the varieties of known parentage, 
those out of the Hovey, Wilson, Sharpless and Crescent, 
are supposed to contain the blood of F. virginiana in 
part. There are a number of varieties in which the sur- 
mise becomes almost a certainty. In 1854, J. S. Downer, 
of Fairview, Kentucky, produced Downer's Prolific. In 
1876, James Smith, of Des Moines, Iowa, stated : ^ 
"Downer produced his Downer's Prolific from seed of 
the native Iowa strawberry," which is a form of F, 
virginiana. Andrew S. Fuller called the Charles Downing, 
which was a seedling of Downer's Prolific, "a large rep- 
resentative of the western F. virginiana, var. illinoensis" 
J. L. Budd asserts,^ " We know that the Charles Downing 
sprang from the western wild species (Fragaria illinoensis) 
pollinated by a Chilean variety ; and we also know that 
in habit of growth and runners and in choice aromatic 
flavor it follows the native, while the Chilean pollen has 
given size of fruit and decidedly modified the foliage. 
Our native species has also transmitted the required 

iProc. Iowa Hort. Soc, 1876, p. 337. 

2 "American Horticultural Manual," Vol. I, p. 265. 



132 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

hardiness." This view was commonly accepted by the 
horticulturists of that period. The rampant growth of 
runners and the deeply imbedded seeds of the Charles 
Downing were marked indications of F. virginiana blood. 

The Charles Downing became a great commercial 
variety. Between 1875 and 1890 it was a close com- 
petitor of the Wilson. Ten of its descendants are in 
cultivation today, most of them coming through the 
Windsor. These are : Enhance, Ham, Hazel, Marconi, 
Mary (of Alley), Millionaire, Nina, Reba, Reliance and 
Robinson. We now have but two varieties, the Elma and 
the Robbie, that have descended from the Kentucky, 
another notable seedling of Downer's Prolific. 

Several other varieties of some prominence have been, 
beyond question, of F. virginiana blood in part. One 
was the Bidwell, which was widely grown for home use 
between 1880 and 1895. This variety was produced by 
Benjamin Hathaway, of Little Prairie Ronde, Michigan, 
by crossing, to quote from him, "what I call the Pistillate 
Scarlet, that came out through three or four generations 
from the old Virginia Scarlet,'' with Wilson, Sharpless and 
Glendale as pollinizers.^ The Michigan, another noted 
variety produced by Hathaway, was this same Pistillate 
Scarlet crossed with Burr's Seedling. It was widely 
planted between 1865 and 1875. Hathaway's statement 
of the origin of these two varieties was verified by T. T. 
Lyon. 

Botanical evidence. — This completes the evidence of 
history in support of the contention that F. virginiana has 
entered largely into the lineage of the modern strawberry. 
There remains the evidence of botany. At first thought 
it might seem that it should be comparatively easy to 
1 Proc. Amer. Pom. Soc, 1881, p. 55. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 133 

determine from what species the garden strawberry has 
sprung by making comparative studies in anatomy, yet 
this has not given conclusive results. The genus Fragaria 
is a most flexible and unstable group of plants. Botanists 
rarely agree upon the limits of a species. Some would 
make several species out of the group of plants known 
loosely as F. mrginiana. 

A large proportion of the seedlings resulting from a 
strawberry cross tend to revert to a more primitive type ; 
usually over ninety per cent of them are inferior to either 
parent. In 1886 E. Lewis Sturtevant reported his ob- 
servations on this point.^ "The modern varieties under 
American culture seem to belong mostly to the species rep- 
resented in nature by F. mrginiana, although there are 
supposed hybridizations with F. chiloensis, and, in the high 
flavored class, with F. elatior. Certain it is that in grow- 
ing seedlings from our improved varieties reversions often 
occur to varieties referable to the Hautbois and Chilean 
sorts, from which fact hybridization can be inferred. I 
have noticed as of common occurrence that seedlings from 
high flavored varieties are very likely to furnish some 
plants of the Hautbois class and scarcely if at all distin- 
guishable from named varieties of the Hautbois with 
which there has been opportunity for close comparison. 
From large berries of diminished flavor and which occa- 
sionally throw hollow berries the reversion occasionally 
produces plants unmistakably of the Chilean type. In 
other cases we have noticed reversions to forms of F. msca. 
These circumstances all lead towards establishing the 
mingled parentage of our varieties under cultivation.'' 
This conclusion agrees with that of Richardson, previously 
quoted, (page 121), that the modern strawberry is a com- 
1 Trans. Mass. Hort. Soc, 1888, ppj 191-204. 



134 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

posite of several species, including the Hautbois and vesca, 
as well as the Virginian and Chilean. 

While the anatomical characters of modern varieties 
furnish no conclusive clue to their botanical origin, there 
are several points worth noting. The position of the seeds 
is a character of segregation between the Chilean and the 
Virginian species. In the former they are commonly 
exserted or but slightly imbedded ; in the latter they are 
sunk into deep, angular pits. Most of the early North 
American varieties had sunken seeds. According to 
Hooper's "Western Fruit Book," the seeds of the Hovey 
were "imbedded in a small cavity." Modern varieties 
show both contrasting characters, but those with exserted 
seeds are more numerous now, as the berries are less 
likely to be bruised. 

A long neck characterized many of the varieties follow- 
ing the Hovey. The berries of F. chiloeiisis rarely have 
a pronounced neck, but this feature is quite common in 
the Virginian and in F. vesca. The Banana strawberry, 
introduced about 1870, was the most conspicuous example 
of a necked variety (Fig. 18). This variety was a seedling 
of Agriculturist, which came from Green Prolific, which 
was a seedling of the Hovey. Long necks are not desired 
now, since such berries do not carry to market well. 

The abundance of runners of many modern varieties 
may be an indication of F. virginiana blood. Some forms 
of F. chiloensis, as the Alaska beach strawberry, have 
numerous runners, but the species as a whole is char- 
acterized by a very moderate runner production, as com- 
pared with F. virginiana. The wild Scarlet makes 
runners in the greatest profusion. This habit always 
has been one of the greatest defects of the Scarlet under 
cultivation ; it makes so many plants that the bed is over- 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 135 

crowded and consequently the fruit is very small. The 
Hovey was a moderate plant maker, but a large propor- 
tion of the varieties following it were exceedingly prolific 
of plants. The Colfax, introduced in 1867, was said to 
"kill weeds and everything else and completely occupy 
the ground." In 1860 J. A. Warder recommended the 
Necked Pine as " death on blue grass ; it will jump over the 
fence and escape everything that trespasses. Plant it 
thirty feet apart and let it run." The Crescent was so 
prolific of plants that many growers set it ten feet apart 
each way, and still got a good stand in normal seasons. 
Consider also the remarkable plant-making ability of 
Cumberland Triumph and many of its progeny, all de- 
scendants of the Hovey; and the rampant runners of 
the Charles Downing. It is exceedingly diflScult to asso- 
ciate this free-running habit with a pure strain of F. 
chiloensis. Few of the varieties of more recent introduc- 
tion produce runners as freely as this, because it is no 
longer desired. Some degree of runner restriction is con- 
sidered essential to the production of good fruit ; naturally 
this ideal is reflected in the selection of seedlings. 

Most plant breeders agree that the attribute of hardi- 
ness cannot be acquired in a few years, by selection, unless 
the plant under consideration happens to be a heterozy- 
gote. As a general proposition, hardiness is the result of 
some hundreds or thousands of years of natural selection. 
Hence, if we wish to secure hardier varieties of a tender 
plant in our own generation the most practicable course 
is to infuse the blood of a hardier species. 

There are some places where F. chiloensis is quite hardy, 
but for the most part it is a tender species. Its habitat 
is the more tempered regions of North and South America. 
The South American form, from which the Pine is sup- 



136 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

posed to have been derived, is especially tender. F. 
mrginiana, on the other hand, is decidedly hardy. It 
grows close up to the snow line. It withstands temper- 
atures of forty degrees below zero and survives even the 
extreme conditions on our northwestern prairies. It has 
been used recently by Hansen to breed greater hardiness 
into some of the common varieties, with marked results, 
so far as this one attribute is concerned. Modern English 
varieties are distinctly inferior to American varieties in 
hardiness. The race of strawberries that has developed 
in North America since the introduction of the Hovey, 
however, is sufficiently hardy to succeed under commercial 
culture in all parts of the continent except where climatic 
conditions are unusually trying, as in the Dakotas, Minne- 
sota, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It is difficult to 
conceive that a pure form of F. chiloensis could have 
acquired this remarkable degree of hardiness, so foreign 
to its nature in the wild, within so short a period. It is 
much more likely that the greater hardiness of North 
American varieties, as compared with English sorts, is 
due to a larger admixture of the more hardy species. 

There are other characters of modern varieties, both in 
plant and fruit, that indicate a mixed origin. Some varie- 
ties show the division of the crown, the smooth, thin 
leaves, the deep-feeding, wiry roots and red flesh of F. 
mrginiana; others show the undivided crocus, thick 
downy leaves, shallow-feeding, fleshy roots, very long 
root stalks and white flesh of F. chiloensis. 

An argument for the hybrid origin of the garden straw- 
berry is found in the record of pure F. chiloensis under 
cultivation. Although this species has been grown in 
Europe for two centuries, it has produced but few varieties 
and none of these has been found worthy of general eulti- 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 137 

vation. It was offered for sale in one of the first North 
American trade catalogs, which was sent out by Princess 
Linnsean Gardens, in 1771. The White Chilean was 
grown sparingly for preserves until about 1860, especially 
in California, but never was popular outside of the gardens 
of a few amateurs. It has shown but little tendency to 
vary under cultivation; the few varieties differ mainly 
in the color of the fruit. F. chiloensis is indigenous to our 
entire Pacific seaboard ; yet I have not been able to dis- 
cover a single variety that has sprung from it during the 
hundred years that have elapsed since there has been any 
considerable interest in strawberry culture on this conti- 
nent. 

It might be argued, with justice, that the South 
American form of F. chiloensis, from which the Pine is 
supposed to have sprung, may have possessed a tendency 
to vary into improved forms that is lacking in the North 
American representatives of the species. This phenome- 
non is seen in the native plum, Prunus americana. 
Practically all of the valuable varieties of this species 
have come from the Mississippi Valley ; the eastern form 
shows little profitable variation. Yet it would seem 
reasonable to expect that if North American varieties 
of the strawberry are of F. chiloensis blood, and nothing 
else, the species should at least give us an occasional im- 
proved variety in these latter days. F. virginiana was 
the mainstay of strawberry culture in North America 
for over a century. Would it not be strange indeed if it 
were suddenly and completely dispossessed by a species 
that is known to have produced no valuable varieties in 
a pure form, either here or in Europe, during the 200 
years that it has been in cultivation? 

Extended study of the botanical characters of the several 



138 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

species, and of their behavior under cultivation and hy- 
bridization, is necessary to estabHsh with certainty the 
origin of the garden form. This has not yet been given, 
but the presumption is strong, from the foregoing evidence, 
that both the Chilean and Virginian species are rep- 
resented in modern varieties. 

Origin of the Everbearers 

The search for varieties that are consistently everbearing 
in the North has been long, and fraught with repeated 
disappointment. The first everbearing strawberry worthy 
of the name was the Alpine, also called the Alpine Per- 
petual and Monthly Alpine. This takes its name from 
the Alps Mountains of Europe, where it is indigenous. 
It is said to have been introduced into France and England 
about 1764, but it had been known for at least 200 years 
previous. Duchesne, writing in 1766, says: "The King 
of England was understood to have received the first 
seed from Turin. It was such a rarity that a pinch of 
the seed sold for a guinea." At that time the Alpine was 
supposed to be a distinct species ; now it is classed as a 
form of the Wood strawberry, F. vesca. The only differ- 
ence between the Wood and the Alpine is that the fruit 
of the latter is pointed instead of round, and the plant 
bears more or less continuously from April to November. 
Usually, the Wood bears but once a year, in the spring, 
but some seasons it shows a tendency towards fall fruit- 
ing. The essential difference between single-bearing and 
everbearing sorts may be found in their anatomical struc- 
ture. The latter produces flowering stems from the 
axils of some of the leaves on the main stem, instead of 
runners. According to Henri de Vilmorin, the everbearing 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 139 

habit is so firmly fixed in the Alpine that all its seedlings 
possess this character in equal degree, although they 
may vary somewhat in other respects. 

A number of distinct varieties of the Alpine are recog- 
nized. These cannot be reproduced absolutely true 
unless propagated by runners or division, but seed propa- 
gation is so much easier and gives so much better fruit 
that most gardeners prefer it. Seedlings differ from the 
parent only in minor respects. Seed propagation is 
especially necessary with the Bush Alpine, which has no 
runners. The original plant of this curious type was 
found at Gaillon, in the European Alps, by M. Labaube, 
in 1811. Several years later, probably in 1818, M. 
Morel de Vinde originated the white-fruiting Bush Alpine, 
which, also, comes fairly true from seed. 

The Alpines were tested repeatedly in North America, 
but never gained a foothold. In 1833 it was reported 
that a man near New York City had "several acres of 
vines from which he sold upwards of a thousand dollars' 
worth of berries." ^ For many years the White Alpine 
was valued in the Province of Quebec, as it was hardy 
there without a mulch and bore good crops of small, 
sweet berries. In Quebec it was perfectly remontante, 
bearing from the latter part of June until late September. 
At one time some attention was given to the Alpines in 
California, but for the most part they have been grown 
only in home gardens, and occasionally in greenhouses. 
There is little interest in the Alpines now, except among 
amateurs. 

From time to time the Alpines have been reintroduced 
into North America, with extravagant claims concerning 
their everbearing habits. Until 1910, our more voluble 
1 The New England Farmer, 1833, p. 106. 



140 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

trade catalogs dilated upon the virtues of the " wonderful 
everbearing strawberr}^, which bears red, white, and green 
berries." This was mixed seed of Alpine varieties. The 
Mexican Everbearing, or Maximilian Prolific, introduced 
in 1867, created a sensation — for a short time. This 
was said to have been discovered near Jalapa, Mexico. It 
was supposed to be a new species and was named F, 
Gilmani, by the Buffalo Academy of Natural Sciences, in 
honor of the introducer. It was introduced with great 
acclaim, and sold for $3 a dozen plants, but proved to 
be almost identical with the old Red Alpine, and practi- 
cally worthless. There is no reason for doubting that the 
Mexican Everbearing came from Mexico, for the Alpine, 
or a closely related form, called F. Mexicana, is widely 
naturalized there in the higher altitudes, and bears con- 
tinuously. L. E. Benton has written an interesting ac- 
count of the Mexican strawberry industry. He says : ^ 
" In the city of Mexico we have strawberries every day in 
the year. In some months they are more plentiful than 
others, but they are always here in more or less quantity. 
They are from plants that are practically everbearing, 
but at no time of the year do they bear one-third as 
heavily as do the strawberries in the United States. They 
are known as the strawberries of Irapuato because it is 
in that district that practically the entire crop is grown. 
This is about two hundred miles north of the city of 
Mexico. The fruit is sent by express just as it was 
picked, loose, in twenty-pound baskets. The growth of 
the fruit is slowly spreading and now some is grown at 
Guadalajara and Obregon. 

"The Irapuato strawberry, in leaf, resembles the com- 
mon northern one. It is distinct in throwing out few 
1 Rural New Yorker, 1911, p. 314. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 141 

runners; it prefers to grow in a bunch. In this it re- 
sembles the Alpine, and it may be a cross or variety of 
the two types. It is called here fresa, which means the 
common running strawberry, and is distinctly understood 
not to be the f resort which means the Alpine kind. The 
freson we have here, but it does not succeed as well in the 
Irapuato district, nor is it as productive. The better 
American varieties have been tried here many times, but 
always dwindle and die off. In French catalogues there 
are both fresas and fresons and it may be that these here 
were imported from France." 

European everbearing varieties. — The chief faults of 
the Alpines are their small size and light yield. Beginning 
soon after the Alpines were introduced, numerous at- 
tempts were made, mainly in France, to cross them with 
the common large-fruited sorts. One of the first of these 
crosses to be widely advertised was Gloede's Perpetual. 
This was brought to North America about 1865 and adver- 
tised as a large-fruited everbearer, but proved worthless 
here. In Europe it met with some favor, but was not as 
dependable as the Alpine. A bush Alpine, the In- 
exhaustible, originated by M. Mabille, created consider- 
able excitement in Europe and America about 1872. 

The first really good perpetual strawberry was the St. 
Joseph, which was originated by Abbe Thivolet, of 
Chenoves, Saone-et-Loire, France, in 1893. It was the 
result of thirteen years of crossing of the Alpine with the 
large-fruited varieties. Subsequently, he introduced the 
St. Antoine de Padoue, a seedling of the St. Joseph, and 
several other everbearing sorts of the same lineage. 
Louis Gautier, another French variety of this class, was 
introduced into North America in 1894 as "the great 
twice-fruiting French strawberry; the old plants bear 



142 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

in May and their runners in September." None of the 
European varieties were successful here. Almost in- 
variably they have proved to be tender, weak-growing, and 
the everbearing habit is scarcely in evidence. If irrigated 
and fertilized heavily, they throw out runners which bear 
as soon as rooted, giving a partial fall crop, but not enough 
to justify the trouble. In Europe, however, especially in 
France, these varieties are thrifty and truly everbearing. 
Henri de Vilmorin says : " They flower and bear fruit 
continuously from May to November and produce a 
moderate amount of runners. Their chief value is for 
the home garden, but with extra care and management 
they may even prove profitable as a market crop for late 
summer and early autumn." In 1902 P. de Vilmorin 
said of the St. Joseph and the St. Antoine, as grown in 
France, "Whenever the water supply has been sufficient 
to keep them growing they gave all through the summer 
and as late as October a great crop of large, well-flavored 
fruits, fetching high prices when sent to market." ^ 

Early failures in North America. — Meanwhile, Ameri- 
can growers were disappointed repeatedly in their search 
for an everbearing variety adapted to conditions here. 
Aside from failures with the Alpines and the European 
hybrid everbearers, a number of native sorts that at first 
seemed to hold some promise proved to be worthless. 
One of the first of these was reported by Nicholas Long- 
worth, in 1852.2 He said : "There is a wild everbearing 
variety in our State (Ohio) that would cross with the Scar- 
let and Pine and is the only kind I have ever seen worthy 

1 Mem. Hort. Soc. N. Y., Vol. I (1902), p. 255. 

2 "Culture of the Strawberry," by Nicholas Longworth, in 
"The Culture of the Grape and Wine-making," by Robert Bu- 
chanan (1852), p. 133. Also in Country Gentleman, XI (1858), 
p. 366. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 143 

of the name of Everbearing; for the Alpine, after the 
first crop, rarely produces much fruit through the season. 
Thirty years ago I met with a solitary strawberry plant 
on Mt. Adams, then in bloom. I removed it to my garden, 
and the plant not only bloomed freely till frost, but all 
the runners threw out blossoms at the same time that 
they made -roots and bore abundantly till late in the 
fall. The fruit was small, but of fine flavor." Long- 
worth was assured by Mr. Lewis, a pioneer of Green 
county, Ohio, that this everbearing sort abounded in 
that county in earlier years. No further mention is 
made of it. 

About this time the Crescent Seedling Perpetual 
achieved notoriety. It was originated by Henry Law- 
rence, of New Orleans, Louisiana, and was said by him 
to be British Queen X Keens' Seedling. He introduced it 
in 1848. As grown at New Orleans, it " bore continuously 
for six months, from Christmas until the fifteenth of July." 
The Horticulturist warned its readers that this statement 
was "preposterous," but many northern growers paid 
eight dollars a dozen for plants. In the North, it produced 
only a spring crop of rather inferior berries and soon was 
discarded. It took a number of experiences like this to 
convince northern horticulturists that the everbearing 
habit of the strawberry in the far South is due to climate, 
and is not an inherited character. About 1854 Charles 
A. Peabody, of Columbus, Georgia, achieved a national 
reputation for his supposed skill in being able to make 
the Hovey and Large Early Scarlet bear continuously for 
six months. His method was to train the plants in hills, 
use no manure or other stimulating fertilizer, and let the 
beds stand for ten or twelve years. "A few years of 
this culture," said he, "will check their disposition to 



144 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

run and encourage them to fruit perpetually.'* ^ But 
northern growers who followed his system faithfully were 
unable to secure the same results. In 1874 T. T. Lyon, of 
Michigan, reported : ^ " Among the new native varieties 
is Golden Perpetual, a curiosity, as it produces a contin- 
uous crop till frost on the young runners, which fruit 
before taking root. The berry is large and excellent." 
Three years later, however, he described the berries as 
"few and small," and no more was heard of this variety. 

One of the greatest disappointments was the Oregon 
Everbearing, which was introduced in 1890 with sweeping 
claims. It was first exhibited at the Portland Exposition, 
Oregon, during that year. This variety was a chance 
seedling, supposedly of Triomphe, found by Seth Winquist, 
of Russellville, Oregon, in 1882. In western Oregon it was, 
in fact, more or less of an everbearer under certain cultural 
conditions, but in most places it failed completely to meet 
the expectations of those who had paid five dollars a 
dozen for the plants. This variety was introduced into 
France in 1894 and was valued there until the introduction 
of the St. Joseph. The Repeater, introduced in 1900, 
was another failure, so far as everbearing is concerned. 

The genesis of modern North American everhearers. — The 
variety that marked the beginning of the successful cul- 
ture of everbearing strawberries in North America was dis- 
covered by Samuel Cooper, of Delevan, New York, in the 
autumn of 1898. As related by him : " The Pan-American 
strawberry was found by me in the fall of 1898, growing in 
a row of Bismarck plants that I had secured from W. F. 
Allen, of Salisbury, Md., and set the previous spring. This 

^ "Manual for the Cultivation of the Strawberry," by R. 
G. Pardee, pp. 93-103. 

2 Proc. Mich. Pom. Soc, 1874, p. 270. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 145 

plant had made sixteen runner plants, all of which had 
either ripe or green fruit or blossoms on them. I did some 
roguing for several years to eliminate those that were not 
fall-bearing, for occasionally one would make runners 
freely and not fruit. These were destroyed with all their 
runners. I do not think one plant has failed to fruit for 
the last three years. The Pan-American is undoubtedly 
a sport by bud variation from the Bismarck." ^ This 
surmise as to its origin is not capable of proof. If true, 
it is the only authentic instance on record of bud sporting 
in the strawberry. It is more probable that the Pan- 
American was a seedling that had become mixed with the 
plants of Bismarck ; possibly it is a seedling of that variety, 
which it resembles in 
some respects. There 
were no Alpine, French 
or other everbearing 
varieties growing on his 
grounds at that time. 

The Pan-American — 
so-called because it was 
first exhibited at the 
Pan-American Exposi- 
tion, Buffalo, New ^ ,„ ^ . , . .x , 

■\r 1 * 1 nrki • -^^^- ^^' — Pan-American, the first North 

York, m 1901, was m- American everbearer. 

troduced in 1902, and 

received immediate recognition. The berries proved to 
be rather small, unattractive in color, and mediocre in 
quality, but the plants possessed the everbearing habit to 
a marked degree. It made few runners, sometimes none, 
so that it was necessary to propagate it by division. 
This made the price of plants high. When the attempt 
1 Rept. Iowa Hort. Soc, 1910, p. 274. 

L 




146 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

was made to overcome this fault by stimulating the plants 
highly with nitrogenous fertilizer, runners were produced 
freely, but the plants reverted to the spring-bearing type. 
The Pan-American never became popular, but it furnished 
the starting point of the long-desired race of dependable 
everbearers. The originator immediately began to raise 
seedlings from it. The first of these to show value was 
Autumn; later he introduced Productive, Superb and 
several others, all of Pan-American stock. The Superb is 
the best of Cooper's varieties. 

Meanwhile, another breeder had been working on the 
problem independently. About 1896, Harlow Rockhill, 
of Conrad, Iowa, began work with Louis Gautier, which 
showed considerable inclination to bear fruit on part 
of its runners, in wet seasons. He soon became con- 
vinced that the everbearing character could not be fixed 
in this variety by selection and began crossing it with a 
number of American sorts. Some of his seedlings of 
Louis Gautier X Sample were quite promising. In 
1904 he secured the Pan-American and crossed it with 
Louis Gautier, with this result: "Seeds were sown 
in window boxes in February, 1905, from crosses made 
the preceding fall. Some of the resulting seedlings 
fruited the following August and September. These 
were, perhaps, the first strawberry plants on record, of 
the large-fruited varieties, to bear the same year the seed 
was sown. There were many freaks among these seed- 
lings. One sent out runners twelve to sixteen inches long, 
which rooted and produced three to five trusses of fruit 
each. IMost of the runners produced no plant buds ; after 
fruiting, all such runners died back to the mother plant. 
Another seedling had running fruit stems about twelve 
inches long with three separate settings of fruit. These 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 147 

were of no value except as curiosities. From among these 
seedlings I selected the Francis and America." ^ These 
two varieties, and the Progressive, a later introduction, 
are distinctly superior to Pan-American and have given a 
decided impetus to the garden culture of the everbearers. 
Other plant breeders who have labored in this field 
with considerable success are Charles F. Gardner, of Osage, 
Iowa, E. H. Riehl, of Alton, Illinois, and Albert F. Etter, 
of Ettersburg, California. Except for the Ettersburg 
seedlings, the basis for improvement has been the Pan- 
American or its descendants. A remarkable instance 
of precocity in everbearing seedlings is reported by 
C. F. Gardner : 2 "Good specimens of ripe fruit were 
picked May 28th and planted the same day in an ordi- 
nary seed bed. The little plants began coming in sight 
ten days afterward. On August 6th the seedlings were 
set in the field and kept absolutely clean. The first 
fruit buds were seen on August 28th; the first petals 
expanded on August 30th, and the first ripe berries were 
found on October 2d, less than five months from the seed." 
The term "fall-bearer," as applied to varieties of this 
type, should be discarded; "everbearing" describes their 
distinctive habit more accurately. They are fall-bearing 
only when the cultivator so desires ; if left to themselves, 
they will begin bearing in the spring and produce more or 
less fruit all the season. 

Botany of the Strawberry 

The wild strawberry is one of the most widely diffused 
plants. It is abundant in all of northern and central 

1 Rept. Iowa Hort. Soc, 1909, p. 185. 
Ubid., 1911, p. 124. 



148 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Europe and extends from Lapland, the Shetland Islands 
and Lake Wetter in Sweden (north latitude 60 degrees), 
to Spain, Sicily and Greece. In Asia, it is found north 
of 60 degrees north latitude, from Russian Siberia to 
Armenia and the northern part of Syria. In South 
America it is common throughout the Andean Range; 
at the equator it climbs the mountains to find a congenial 
habitat. The wild strawberry grows over practically 
all of North America, including Iceland, Newfoundland, 
Labrador, to the very border of the Arctic Zone. It 
extends in an almost unbroken chain from Iceland and 
Alaska and the 64th parallel in the North, through Mexico 
and Central America to South America. No continent 
or large body of land is without an indigenous species. 

The genus Fragaria is so variable that many of the 
numerous species are not clearly defined. There are, 
however, four quite distinct type or groups, all but one 
of which are represented in North America. These are 
F. virginiana, F. chiloensis, F. vesca, and F. elatior. 

F. virginiana. — This is the most widely distributed 
North American species. It grows from sea-level to an 
altitude of 12,000 feet and is found in practically every 
State and Province. In Colorado, it fruits abundantly 
at the timber line. The plant is small, slender, erect, 
smooth or slightly silky, with small blossoms. It throws 
out long runners in great profusion, many of them appear- 
ing at the time of blossoming. When the plant stands in 
the same place for several years the crown divides, instead of 
elongating and pushing out of the ground, as in F. chiloen- 
sis. The roots are wiry, and the plant sets deeply and 
firmly in the ground. The leaflets are large, light green, 
rather thin, slightly silky when young, glabrate when old, 
sharp toothed and often folded. The fruit is borne early in 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 



149 



the season on short, stout, rather weak-rayed scapes, which 
are sHghtly villous, and somewhat shorter than the leaves ; 
it is small, globular, with a distinct neck, very light scarlet. 
The yellow seeds are sunk deeply into angular pits ; the 




Fig. 14. — F. virginiana. 



calyx is small. The flesh usually is pink, pleasantly acid, 
and the berry has a pronounced aroma. The northern 
form of this species, F. canadensis, differs from the type 
chiefly in being of lower stature and having pointed fruit. 



150 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

It is found in the Northeast as far south as southern 
Michigan and central New York. The robust prairie 
form of the Scarlet has been called F. ioensis and F. 
illinoensis, but it does not differ materially from the type 
save in size, and is now known as F. virginiana, var. 
illinoensis. 

F. chiloensis. — This species is found on the Pacific 
Coast of North and South America, particularly on the 
western slope of the Rocky Mountains and the Andes. 
It also is indigenous to sandy beaches of the Pacific Coast. 
It is one of the few species of plants common to both North 
and South America. The plant is large, stocky, densely 
hairy, with large blossoms. It throws out a moderate num- 
ber of short, stout runners mostly after the fruit has ma- 
tured. The roots are rather thick, fleshy and usually are 
more superficial than those of F. virginiana. When a plant 
grows in the same place for several years the crown does 
not divide low down, as in F. virginiana, but makes 
several large crowns high up, all attached to the main root 
stalk. The plant is pushed upward out of the soil and 
new roots form above the old ones. The leaflets are 
large, thick and coriaceous, round-toothed, smooth and 
shining above, very silky on the under side, strongly 
reticulate. The fruit is borne late in the season on short, 
strong, very silky, much branched scapes and long, stiff 
peduncles. The berry is large, globular or conic, 
sometimes hairy, scarcely necked, dull brownish red. 
The prominent brown seeds project slightly, or are even 
with the surface in shallow pits. The calyx is very large. 
The flesh is whitish, usually hollow, of sweet, but weak, 
flavor. F. crinita and californica differ but slightly from 
this type. The true F. chiloensis is mostly a beach form, 
with very long root stalks, often eight to ten inches long. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 



151 



which are buried deeply in the sand. The species found 
in inland locations is mostly F. californica. 

F. chiloensis produces very large berries in South 
America. According to Burbidge:^ "In the equatorial 




Fig. 15. — F. chiloensis. 



Andes, the Province of Ambato is famed for its straw- 
berries, which equal in size and flavor some of our best 
varieties and are to be seen exposed for sale in the market 

1 "The Propagation and Improvement of Cultivated Plants," 
p. 473. 



152 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

place of Ambato every day in the year. They are culti- 
vated at an altitude of from 7,000 to 9,500 feet above the 
sea where the mean temperature of the year ranges be- 
tween 59 degrees and 67 degrees.'' In the Copiapo Valley, 
Chile, the berries grow to a circumference of over six 
inches. On the Pacific Coast of North America the species 
is equally abundant, but smaller. According to J. R. 
Cardwell, in Oregon it is "abundant and very prolific, 
so that in some regions, it is said, hogs fatten on them. 
The berry is not large, but improves under cultivation, 
and, by some, is classed superior in flavor to the cultivated 
kinds." 1 

There are marked variations from the type in different 
parts of the Pacific Slope. One of the most conspicuous 
of these is the Alaska beach form, which C. C. Georgeson 
reports as "growing in almost pure sand along the beach 
just beyond the waves and disputing the ground with the 
mosses, grasses and other plants peculiar to the region." ^ 
This beach type has procumbent fruit stalks and very 
weak peduncles. A large proportion of the leaves have 
four leaflets. One of the forms of F, chiloensis used by 
Albert F. Etter of California in his breeding work has 
light green foliage, and the petioles are covered with a 
coarse, dense pubescence; another form has glossy dark 
green leaves, practically free from pubescence. The 
beach form, or sand strawberry, thrives under such un- 
favorable conditions that it is used on the Pacific coast to 
cover dry slopes and exposed places. 

When transplanted to the East, the fruiting season of 
F. chiloensis is scarcely longer than that of F. virginiana; 
but on the Pacific Coast its season is extended. In 

1 Rept. Ore. State Bd. Hort., 1907, p. 137. 

2 Rept. Alaska Exp. Station, 1906, p. 12. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 153 

Bolivia wild strawberries are on the market four or five 
months of the year. Wild berries have been picked near 
San Francisco from January until August. The North 
American form of F. chiloensis has not given any valuable 
varieties. 

F. vesca. — This is the common wild strawberry of 
Europe. The Wood strawberry of England, which has 
round berries, and the Alpine, or Monthly strawberry of 
the continent, which has long berries, both belong to this 
species. The European type has been naturalized in 
eastern and central North America to some extent, but a 
widespread native species, F. americana, resembles the 
European form so closely that many botanists consider 
the two identical. It differs chiefly in the shape of the 
fruit, which is ovoid or subconic, instead of hemispheric, 
usually has a distinct neck and is somewhat less pubes- 
cent and more slender. It is common in the East from 
Newfoundland to North Carolina and southwest to 
Oklahoma, preferring shady, rocky places, especially in 
mountains. The plant is tall, slender, erect, softly villose 
with small blossoms and long, slender runners. The 
leaflets are thin, light green, silky when young but gla- 
brate on both sides when old, and sharp toothed. The 
fruit is borne on weak scapes, much longer than the leaf 
stalks. The berry is very small, long, hemispheric or 
conic, pointed, often necked, light scarlet. The prominent 
seeds are close together, but are not imbedded in the 
flesh. The calyx is small and recurved; the flesh 
whitish and of rich flavor. No valuable varieties have 
come from the American form of F. vesca, nor does the 
species show much promise. The white-fruited form is 
common from New York and Massachusetts to Kentucky 
and Ohio. 



154 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

F. elatior. — The Hautbois strawberry is not indigenous 
to North America. It is common in central Europe, 
especially in Germany. Unlike F. vesca, the Hautbois 




Fig. 16. — The Alpine form of F. vesca. 



ORIGIN AND BOTANY 155 

is found more commonly in woods and in open fields. 
Possibly this may explain its name, which means "high 
wood," but more likely this refers to the habit of the 
species of bearing fruit on long, stout stems, elevated 
above the leaves. The foliage is large, tall, pale green, 
downy beneath. The ripe berries are round or oval, 
larger than in F. vesca, brownish or pale red, occasionally 
greenish, and have a strong musky flavor, which has been 
described as " a sort of mixture between the black currant 
and the raspberry." The flavor, while rich, is not agree- 
able to most people, which accounts for the slight interest 
that has been shown in the improvement of this species. 

Another serious defect of the Hautbois is its unproduc- 
tiveness. Some plants bear no flowers at all, or only 
abortive flowers. Many plants show a distinct tendency 
to be dioecious, some of the blossoms being pistillate, others 
almost purely staminate, with no pistils whatever. There 
are also perfect flowered plants ; but one or the other sex 
of an apparently perfect flower may not function. The 
Hautbois served a very useful purpose in directing atten- 
tion to the sex of the strawberry; the experiments of 
Duchesne were with this species. In spite of its faults, 
the Hautbois was widely grown in European gardens until 
the middle of the nineteenth century. The first named 
variety of the strawberry was of this species. According 
to Parkinson, it was introduced into England about 1600. 

The Hautbois never achieved popularity in America. 
William R. French states : "The Hautbois was introduced 
in America in early colonial days, but the bisexual plants 
were mixed with pure staminate, which soon ran out the 
others, leaving the beds unfruitful. By the time the sexual 
selection of the strawberry was better understood there 
were better native varieties." The only variety grown in 



156 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

America to any extent was Prolific Hautbois, a bisexual 
sort, which was found in the gardens of amateurs until 
about 1850. F. elatior is thought by some to have entered 
into the lineage of the modern large-fruited strawberry, 
but this is in doubt. The species is now neglected and 
there are no varieties of prominence. 

These four species, and several very closely related 
forms that are designated by some botanists as distinct 
species, are the types from which practically all progress 
in strawberry breeding has come. Several other species 
are of incidental value. The handsome, yellow-flowered 
Asiatic species, F. indica, which is used as an ornamental 
plant in the conservatories of Europe, is naturalized to 
some extent in Europe and North America. The deep 
red berries much resemble those of F. mrginiana, but the 
scarlet seeds project from the burnished surface, making 
the berry very firm and seedy. The flavor, however, is 
quite flat. A. S. Fuller, E. P. Roe, and others attempted 
to hybridize it with edible varieties in order to secure 
firmer berries, but without success. The flowers and fruit 
of F. indica are produced, more or less, throughout the 
summer, the runners bearing both leaves and flowers. 
Some Chinese forms of F. indica are fairly palatable, but 
the species has shown little promise thus far. 



CHAPTER V 

DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 

The first step in breeding strawberries, and in selecting 
varieties or seedlings, is to have a clear conception of the 
kind of plant and fruit desired. Different men have de- 
scribed "the ideal strawberry." No two descriptions 
agree. There are likely to be as many ideals as there are 
men to describe them or conditions of climate, soil and 
market to be satisfied. The ideal is never attained ; if 
it were, there no longer would be need of new varieties. 
As varieties approach the ideal, we set the mark a little 
higher, so that there still may be incentive to effort. 
Furthermore, ideals change with the times ; a strawberry 
that was quite satisfactory in 1840 would not secure recog- 
nition now. The characters of plant and fruit that make 
a seedling worthy of introduction, and a variety worthy of 
culture, according to present standards, are considered in 
this chapter. 

Desikable Characters in the Plant 

Many sorts, otherwise quite desirable, fail because of 
their susceptibility to disease, especially leaf blight. The 
Hunnwas an excellent late variety in most respects but was 
so seriously attacked by this disease that it was soon dis- 
carded. Spraying to control leaf blight is only partially 

157 



158 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

effective ; most growers prefer to plant varieties that do 
not need to be sprayed. 

Vigor is the prerequisite of productiveness; weak- 
growing varieties of superior quality may satisfy a few 
amateurs, but not commercial growers. There is con- 
siderable difference in the ability of varieties to endure 
drought, due partly to differences in the texture of the foli- 
age, but mostly to the fact that the roots of some sorts 
penetrate the ground more deeply than others. The Ari- 
zona, for example, has a deeper root system than the 
Jucunda. 

Productiveness is the most desirable quality in a com- 
mercial variety. If a variety lacks this it is soon discarded, 
even though it may be desirable otherwise. A heavy yield 
depends not only upon the vigor of the plant and the num- 
ber of fruit stalks, but also upon the average size of the 
berries and the length of the picking season. Judged by 
present standards, a variety that will not yield 100 to 300 
bushels to the acre under ordinary field culture, and 300 
to 500 bushels under intensive market garden culture, is 
not worth keeping. Fifty years hence this standard may 
be considered as low as it would have been thought high 
half a century ago. The Trebla, one of the seedlings of 
Albert F. Etter of Ettersburg, California, is reported to 
have yielded at the rate of twenty tons to the acre, which 
is over 40,000 quarts.^ 

In the North, hardiness must be considered. During 
the winter of 1905-6 many of the strawberry fields of 
Canada and northern United States were covered with ice 
for a long period. Most of the 200 varieties on trial at 
the Central Experiment Farm, Ottawa, Canada, were 
destroyed, although they had been heavily mulched. 
1 Jour. Heredity, VI (July, 1915), p. 328. 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 159 

A few varieties suffered little injury ; among these were 
Beder Wood, Dunlap, Crescent and Pokomoke. In 1896 
the South Dakota Experiment Station reported the 
Princess, Warfield, Clyde and Beder Wood as the hardi- 
est sorts. The soil and method of training have much in- 
fluence upon the hardiness of plants. 

The vigor and productiveness of a variety vary greatly 
under different conditions of soil, climate and culture. 
No variety or seedling should be condemned from a single 
trial. Usually a variety is most at home in the region or 
locality where it originated and is less successful elsewhere 
in proportion to the extent of the variance from these con- 
ditions. Occasionally a variety is more successful else- 
where than where it originated. The Clark is soft and 
unprofitable in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, where it 
originated, but is exceptionally firm and profitable in the 
Hood River Valley of the same state. The Dollar, which 
originated in New Jersey, was soon discarded there but 
still finds a sphere of usefulness on the opposite side of 
the continent, near Sacramento, California. As a rule, 
the seedling or variety most worthy of propagation is one 
that is cosmopolitan or able to adapt itself to a wide range 
of conditions of soil and climate. 

Foliage. — The leaves should be abundant, large, tough, 
not easily torn by winds or scorched by the sun. One 
reason why most English varieties fail here is because their 
foliage is sparse, tender, and easily sun-burned. In 
different varieties the leaflets vary from thin and narrow 
to thick and rounded; and their color from very dark 
green, almost black, to nearly yellow. None of these char- 
acters denotes superiority, but size and toughness of 
foliage are essential. Some varieties hug the ground, 
with comparatively few and straggling leaf stalks ; others 



160 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

are erect, sometimes eighteen inches high when the plants 
are grown in hills. An erect habit is an advantage; if 
the foliage straggles on the ground there is more likely to 
be injury by mildew, mold, and leaf blight, and the blos- 
soms are not as well protected from frost. 

Runners. — The successful variety must be a good plant- 
maker. Fifty years ago, varieties that produced runners 
very freely, and hence required little attention to secure a 
full stand, were preferred. This is one reason why the 
Crescent was so popular. In recent years, the advantages 
of restricting and spacing runners have become so generally 
recognized that a variety which produces a great many 
plants is handicapped somewhat; it costs too much 
to remove the surplus runners. On the other hand, 
a variety that makes very few runners cannot hope to 
become popular. The growers look upon it with disfavor 
because the stand is likely to be poor in a dry season; 
and the nurserymen will not push it, which is an even more 
effective way of consigning a variety to oblivion. 

Only a small part of the strawberries in North America 
are grown in hills ; the other methods of training require 
a variety that is certain to produce a number of runners 
under average conditions. The Jewel was an excellent 
variety for the intensive hill culture practiced by its origi- 
nator, P. M. Augur, who claimed, as one of its strong 
points, that it did not "exhaust itself in making useless 
runners." It failed under field culture for this reason. 
English varieties, which are not successful here as a class, 
make few leaves and runners; the plants are not well 
protected by foliage from the extremes of temperature of 
both winter and summer. Few runners are an ad^^antage 
in varieties that are to be grown under hill or hedge-row 
training. A moderate number of runners are an advantage 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 161 

in matted row or spaced row training, especially for light 
or poor soils. The prevailing methods of training in North 
America involve moderate runner restriction ; hence vari- 
eties with moderate plant-making proclivities, like the 
Bubach, Chesapeake, Williams and Glen Mary, are pre- 
ferred, other things being equal. 

There is considerable variation in the character of the 
runner cords of different sorts. Some are thin and wiry, 
others thick and fleshy. In certain varieties the cord is 
short, so that the runner strikes only three or four inches 
away from the mother plant. In others, the runner strikes 
twelve or fourteen inches from the mother plant. The 
most desirable length of the runner cord depends upon the 
method of training that is practiced. In matted or spaced 
rows, maximum yields are secured on average soils when 
the plants are five to six inches apart. In hedge-rows, this 
distance may be increased to advantage. 

Fruit stalks and blossoms, — It is a decided advantage 
for a variety to have very stout fruit stalks, with stiff 
branches that hold the berries off the ground. When the 
berries lie on the ground they may become dirty or decay. 
This is especially important in sections where irrigation 
is practiced and no mulching used ; also in Florida, where 
the berries ripen very slowly during the cool season. The 
fruit stalks should be tough, not easily broken by the 
pickers. 

It is not desirable that the fruit stalks be elevated above 
the foliage; the blossoms then are exposed to frost and 
beating rains. Some varieties blossom much later than 
others. This is a decided advantage in localities subject 
to late spring frosts. In general, there is a close relation 
between early blossoming and early ripening, but there are 
many exceptions. Erect blossoms are more subject to 



162 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

frost injury than those that turn down. Varieties that 
have perfect flowers, abundantly suppHed with pollen, 
are preferred by most growers. Some, however, prefer 
pistillate varieties in spite of the inconvenience of plant- 
ing pollinizers, being convinced that they are more pro- 
ductive and more resistant to frost. If the variety is 
staminate, it should be strongly so throughout a long 
blossoming season, as is the case with Beder Wood and 
Dunlap. Weak pollinizers and semi-perfect varieties, 
like the Glen Mary, are at a disadvantage. 

Desirable Characters in the Fruit 

Varieties are classified as early, midseason and late, but 
these terms are wholly relative. The time of ripening 
depends as much upon the location, site, soil, method of 
culture and weather as upon the variety. Weather con- 
ditions not only modify the date of ripening, but also 
lengthen or shorten the fruiting season. Some varieties, as 
the Gandy, have short seasons ; normally they give only 
three or four pickings. These are not likely to be as sure 
croppers as varieties that give at least six good pickings. 

Very early or very late varieties seldom yield heavily. 
The longer the season of ripening, the greater the likeli- 
hood that there will be favorable weather at least part 
of the time. Nearly all the heavy-cropping varieties are 
mid-season sorts that ripen over a long period. There has 
been a decided drift toward midseason sorts in recent years. 
The extension of strawberry planting both North and 
South has made it possible to secure late and early berries 
without being obliged to grow the light-yielding extra 
early and extra late sorts. In Florida, the Gulf Coast 
and southern California, the season of ripening is so 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 163 

greatly extended, on account of the sub-tropical climate, 
that there is no occasion for considering this point. 

Size. — When strawberries were grown only for home 
use and near markets, the larger they were the better. As 
soon as the development of transportation facilities made 
it possible to grow them at great distance from markets, 
it was found that very large berries do not carry as well 
as those of medium size. Not only are they less firm, but 
also they are likely to be irregular in shape and hence 
more liable to be bruised. The greater the distance from 
market the more desirable it is to produce berries of uni- 
formly medium size; berries an inch in diameter are 
large enough for long-distance shipping. This is one 
reason why the Clark is profitable in Oregon and the 
Klondike over a large part of the South. For near mar- 
kets, on the other hand, the larger the berry, within reason- 
able limits, the better. 

It is important that good size be maintained from the 
beginning to the end of the shipping season. Many sorts 
give large berries the first pickings, but smaller berries 
thereafter, running down to nubbins at the close. Uni- 
formity of size is desirable also. A variety in which prac- 
tically all the fruit is uniformly medium in size is easier to 
grade, and sells better than one that gives fruit of all sizes 
at the same picking. 

Since the introduction of the Hovey there has been little 
if any improvement in the average size of North American 
varieties until quite recently. In 1869, Seth Boy den, a 
prominent strawberry breeder, predicted that in a few more 
years strawberries would be produced "as large as pine- 
apples." ^ His prophecy is not likely to be realized. 
When the size is increased beyond a certain point, the ber- 
1 Jour. Hort., VI (1869), p. 29. 



164 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

ries are too tender to ship. Some berries have been grown 
over four inches in diameter, showing the possibiHties in 
this direction; but commercial berries are rarely over 
two inches in diameter, even for a special trade, and the 
average size is one inch. Marshall P. Wilder remarked, 
"We already have strawberries sufficiently large to -fill 
any mouth of decent dimensions." 

Records of ''mammoth'' berries. — These have not been 
confined to this generation. In 1613 the "Hortus Eystet- 
tensis" reported berries one and three-eighths inches in 
diameter. In 1708 Simon Paullus, a Dane, published 
his " Quadripartitum Botanicum" in which he claims to 
have seen strawberries "of the kind Bauhin called prune- 
sized, which produced a fruit nearly the size of the peach." 
Probably this was the Chili, which Frezier reported, in 
1712, as bearing berries "the size of hen's eggs." In 1830 
the Fruit Committee of the Pennsylvania Horticultural 
Society awarded a silver medal to Daniel Kochersperger, 
"for the production of the largest strawberries — sixty of 
which fill a quart, and measuring four inches round, less 
one sixteenth of an inch." ^ The same year J. Buel re- 
ported in the Albany (N. Y.) Argus , that he had picked 
"a pail of strawberries which had an average circumfer- 
ence of three inches each." Both of the foregoing records 
were for varieties of F, mrginiana. 

The Hovey was the fii'st of the large-fruited varieties 
of North American origin. For many years it captured 
most of the prizes at strawberry exhibitions because of 
its size and beauty. In 1851 two notable records were 
established with this variety. One was reported by A. J. 
Downing : ^ " We understand that Mr. Pell, at his cele- 

1 The Southern Agriculturist, III (1830), p. 446. 

2 The Horticulturist, 1851, p. 383. 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 165 

brated orchard farm, near Pelham on the Hudson, has 
raised the largest strawberries ever grown in this country. 
The variety was Hovey's SeedHng. The largest berry 
weighed two ounces and measured 8i inches in circumfer- 
ence." ^ The same year C. M. Hovey stated that Mr. 
Cunningham of New York "grew the Hovey Seedling to 
such perfection that thirty-nine were laid on a flat surface 
and covered a space nine by ten inches, that is one to every 
two and one half inches. I saw one weighed and found 
it weighed two ounces and was 8f inches in circumference." 
Hovey states that these berries were the largest ever grown 
in North America. 

Since the introduction of the Hovey, there have been 
many attempts to "break the record" in size of individual 
berries. Some of the early feats are recorded in Chapter I. 
The field of Jucunda raised by John Knox of Pittsburgh 
in 1865 is especially worthy of note. Thomas Meehan 
said these berries "might easily be mistaken by a near- 
sighted observer for tomatoes." He failed to measure 
them, however, which leaves us in doubt whether to com- 
pare them with the cherry tomato or the Ponderosa. 

In 1878 James Smith of Des Moines, Iowa, reported : ^ 
" The past season a specimen was measured by the officers 
of the New York State Horticultural Society that proved 
to be 14| inches in circumference and nearly SiVe inches in 
diameter." This was the Great American, originated by 
E. W. Durand, Irvington, New Jersey. Referring to this 
mammoth berry the following year, Matthew Crawford 
said, "This would be large for an apple, but is really not as 
large as one would think, because these monstrous berries 
are very irregular in shape and measurement is taken 

1 Mag. HorL, 1851, p. 326. 

2 Rept. Iowa Hort. Soc, 1878, p. 322. 



166 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

over and between these irregularities. If this berry had 
been of regular shape, it would have weighed over twelve 
ounces, while the heaviest berry ever grown weighed but 
about three ounces." 

Regular berries of exceptional size were gro"vvTi in 1899 
by A. T. Goldsborough of Washington, D. C. He sent 
some berries to the Secretary of Agriculture, " the average 

weight of which was 
3.06 ounces. The 
largest berry weighed 
four ounces and was 
10 J inches in circum- 
ference. It took but 
six of them to fill a 
quart basket." ^ On 
June 5, 1904, the 

"""^^^^^iiiiiiwi ''^'^^BS^^^^^W^y same propagator sent 

a specimen of his St. 
Louis to G. B. Brack- 

FiG. 17. — A " mammoth " berry ; it weighed ,, i • x i! 

4| ounces. ett, pomologist ot 

the United States 
Department of Agriculture, who reported, " It measured 3| 
by 3t¥ inches in diameter and weighed 4f ounces. Two 
filled an ordinary glass. This beats all records in the size 
of strawberries" (Fig. 17). 

This record was approached, if not bettered, by a speci- 
men of the Mary grown by Henry Jerolamen, Hilton, New 
Jersey, and exhibited at the Jamestown exhibition in 1908. 
It was 4 J inches in diameter ; the weight was not given. 
According to A. D. Webb, of Bowling Green, Kentucky : 
"At a strawberry show held at Louisville, Kentucky, in 
1899 under the auspices of the Kentucky Horticultural 
1 Washington Evening Star, June 17, 1899. 




DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 167 

Society, J. Hawes exhibited two quarts of berries, one 
containing five berries, the other six. The variety was 
Clyde." 1 

Mammoth berries are interesting, but not profitable. 
Nobody wants a strawberry that must be carried in cotton 
batting and has to be sliced before it can be eaten. 
Berries from one to two inches in diameter and weighing 
about an ounce are as large as it is practicable to grow them 
under present conditions. 

Shape. — As long as strawberries were grown only for 
home use or near markets, the shape was of little conse- 
quence. A large proportion of the berries introduced be- 
fore* 1870 were very irregular. Coxcomb varieties were 
quite common then; now they are seldom seen. Since 
the strawberry has been grown at great distances from 
market there has been a tendency to standardize the shape. 
Irregular berries do not ship well ; the projecting points 
are likely to be bruised. The more nearly a berry ap- 
proaches a spherical shape, the less likely it is to be 
bruised. 

The standard shape today is round-conic, or heart- 
shaped, although there are many conic or long-conic vari- 
eties. Practically all modern varieties are roundish, 
ovate, conic, oblate or flattened, long conic, oblong, or slight 
modifications of these types. Obovate berries now are 
rarely seen. Pointed tips are objectionable, as they are 
easily bruised. It is likely that future varieties will be 
more nearly roundish than round-conic. 

Uniformity of shape is desirable. Most sorts are quite 

variable in shape, even on the same plant. Although every 

variety shows marked differences in shape as grown in 

different localities, each variety has a dominant type. 

1 American Gardening, 1899, p. 509. 




168 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

The first berries to ripen usually are more irregular than 
later ones. The surface should be smooth; seams, fur- 
rows and ridges make the berries 
less attractive, and more subject 
to bruising. A slight neck is 
an advantage, as it facilitates 
hulling, but it should be very 
short. Varieties with pro- 
nounced neck, like the old Crim- 
son Cone, cannot be shipped a 
long distance. 

Fig. 18.— Banana, introduced Colyx. — A large CalyX is a 

in 1870. The long neck would disadvantage in long distance 

be considered undesirable today. , . . • n vp ♦. • 

shipping, especially it it is re- 
curved. When first picked, these berries lie quite loosely 
in the baskets, but they soon settle and unless the 
baskets are heaped, they do not reach the markets full 
enough. The Glendale had a very large, recurved calyx ; 
O. B. Galusha claimed that only a pint could be put in 
a quart box. Possibly some would consider this an 
advantage, if the berries are to be grown for local markets. 
A green calj^x makes a pleasing contrast with red berries. 
Brandywine has a large calyx but it wilts and turns yel- 
low a few hours after picking. A small calyx which keeps 
bright green for several days after picking is preferable. 

The calyx should be only moderately adhesive ; varieties 
that are difficult to cap are not favorites with the house- 
wife. Years ago strawberries were sold "hulls off." 
The desire to reduce the labor of capping led to the in- 
troduction of the Mt. Vernon or Shuckless, which left the 
cores as well as the hulls on the vines when picked. This 
met with little favor, as the hulled berries did not carry 
well or keep well. The development of the canning 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 169 

industry may bring about a revival of shuckless varieties. 
Those who sell all the crop to the cannery, not merely 
the later pickings when prices are low and berries small, 
would like to have a variety that meets the ideal recently 
defined by an Oregon canner : " One that is self-stemming, 
that is, leaving the hulls on the stems when picked, so that 
it comes off perfectly clean like a raspberry." The Mt. 
Vernon did this, but it did not have the color and firmness 
necessary in a good canning variety. Some of the varieties 
produced by Albert F. Etter of California are picked with- 
out hulls and scarcely any abrasion. 

Color. — The color of different varieties varies from 
whitish to dark maroon, almost black. The most desir- 
able color in strawberries, as in apples and other fruits, 
depends chiefly upon the preference of those who buy them. ' 
If the eye is pleased, the desire to eat follows. Fifty years 
ago, bright orange-scarlet berries were in demand ; many 
candidates for favor were dismissed with the disparaging 
statement, "Its dark color is against it." Light-colored 
berries were preferred then for the same reason that red 
apples are preferred to green varieties now. In time, the 
public may come to like green apples and light-colored 
strawberries, but now it wants red apples and dark red 
strawberries. If the Cumberland Triumph had been intro- 
duced in 1915 instead of 1874 it would have received scant 
consideration because of its light color. The standard 
of excellence in color is artificial and changes with 
generations. 

Several attempts have been made to popularize white 
varieties, but without success. They are rarely pure 
white, but a rather unattractive dirty color, sometimes 
flushed with pink. Even the acknowledged high quality 
of some white sorts, as the Lennig, has not saved them 



170 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

from neglect. At present they are grown only as curiosi- 
ties. A white variety of F. vesca was mentioned by Ruel- 
lius in 1536. Wild white-fruited forms of F. vesca, F, 
virginiana and F. chiloensis are common in North America, 
especially of F. vesca. 

While color is largely a matter of taste, it should be said 
that dark red varieties show bruises somewhat less than 
light sorts. The color can be too intense ; blackish sorts, 
like the old Black Defiance, would not sell well now. Some 
dark red varieties, as the Brandywine, are dull in color 
and fade quickly after picking. A bright, glossy, dark 
red, one that is "live" and does not fade or wilt, is most 
desirable. A glossy, mahogany red, as in the Warfield 
and Brunette, rarely fails to command approval. A very 
few markets prefer bright, light red berries, like the 
Jucunda, for the same reason that Rhode Island Green- 
ing apples sell better in New York than in St. Louis, — the 
market is used to them. 

There has been much indefiniteness in describing the 
color of strawberries. Quite frequently the terms scarlet 
and crimson have been used interchangeably. Accord- 
ing to the Century Dictionary, scarlet is "a highly chro- 
matic and brilliant red color inclining toward orange"; 
while crimson is "a highly chromatic red color somewhat 
inclining towards purple; deep red." It has been pro- 
posed that the terms light red, medium red and dark red 
be used, but these are hardly suitable, since the difference 
between scarlet and crimson is in quality of color as well 
as in intensity of color. The berry should ripen evenly 
and be uniformly red all over. White tips are no longer 
tolerated. This is a defect of Sharpless and is present to 
a lesser degree in Glen Mary and several other contempo- 
raneous varieties. 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 171 

Seeds. — Part of the color effect of a strawberry, and 
part of its shipping quaHty as well, is due to the abundance, 
size, color and position of the seeds. If there are many 
seeds, and especially if they are crowded close together 
near the apex, the berries look seedy and unattractive. 
The seeds should be inconspicuous, few and small, cer- 
tainly not over 1 J per cent of the total weight. Bright yel- 
low seeds are most attractive, especially if the berries are to 
be canned. If the seeds protrude slightly or are flush with 
the surface, the flesh is protected somewhat and the berry 
carries to market better than if the seeds are sunk into pits. 

Flesh and shipping quality. — White flesh is decidedly 
objectionable. If the skin is broken slightly in handling, 
the berry looks unattractive. Dark red flesh is preferable. 
If the variety is to be canned, it is imperative that the 
flesh be dark red to the center and hold its color well after 
being cooked. 

The texture of the berry is of special importance in these 
days of long distance shipment. Fifty years ago some 
varieties were described as "melting"; the flesh was so 
soft that it dissolved readily in the mouth. Manifestly 
these sorts were valuable only for home use. Now, most 
strawberries are shipped long distances and firmness is 
imperative. Firmness is especially desirable in berries 
grown for canning ; those that lose their shape after being 
cooked sell poorly. 

Shipping quality is considered more important in a 
wholesale market variety than high flavor. Shipping 
value does not depend altogether on the firmness of the 
flesh. Juiciness, solidity of core, texture of skin, position 
and abundance of seeds and an inherent ability to stand 
rough treatment after picking, all help to determine 
whether a variety is a good or poor shipper. These are 



172 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

not necessarily correlated with firmness, but firmness is 
the most important factor in shipping quality. The only 
way to find out the shipping value of a variety is to ship it. 
No new variety can hope to compete with established sorts 
unless it is at least moderately firm when fully mature. 
Firmness does not mean greenness ; a soft variety is often 
picked while still unripe, at a sacrifice of size and quality, 
in order that it may carry well to market. Furthermore, 
soft varieties have to be picked more frequently than firm 
sorts, which is an added expense. 

The texture of the flesh, whether fine grained or coarse, 
is not of special consequence unless it is stringy. The core 
should be only moderately solid. Some varieties have 
very hard, stringy cores, which are decidedly objection- 
able. As a rule, very juicy berries are not firm. Some 
sorts are quite dry ; they will hang on the vines without 
injury for several days after they are ripe. The Staples 
is a notable example. Recently a group of varieties called 
the "fig type" has been introduced ; these are said to be 
very sweet and dry and to possess " self-preservative prop- 
erties so that they can be cured by drying in the sun in 
the manner of figs." Whatever may be their value for 
this purpose, they have roused the enthusiasm of at least 
one grower ; he declares, " They are religious berries ; it 
is not necessary to pick them on Sunday." 

Flavor. — The flavor of strawberries is sweet, sub-acid 
or acid. Most varieties are sub-acid, or mildly tart. No 
flavor pleases all palates alike ; some people prefer a sweet 
strawberry, others an acid sort. A variety is considered 
rich in flavor when it contains a large amount of sugar 
and acid combined in the right proportions; that is, 
enough sweetness to balance the acidity, but not en- 
tirely neutralize it, so as to preserve the racy flavor. 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 173 

Some of our best dessert varieties contain about five per 
cent of sugar and one per cent of free acid. Tart or 
brisk sub-acid berries are preferred for canning as they 
retain the distinctive strawberry flavor after cooking; 
milder sorts are more desirable for eating while fresh. 
There is no demand for a sour or acid berry or for a variety 
with a flat, neutral flavor, and but little for a very sweet 
berry. Sub-acid sorts appeal most strongly to a majority 
of consumers. Berries as sweet as the Ladies Pine and 
Burr's New Pine would not find as much favor on the 
market now as sub-acid varieties like Marshall, although 
appreciated by the few people who cannot eat any kind 
of acid fruit with impunity. 

The best English varieties are sweeter than ours ; they 
are more commonly eaten without sugar. What the Eng- 
lish varieties gain in sweetness, however, is lost in sprightli- 
ness ; they lack the racy, wild flavor of our William Belt 
and Brunette, which is perhaps due to the larger infusion 
of F, virginiana in North American varieties. There is 
no evidence that the flavor of a variety is affected to any 
extent by the soil in which it is grown ; but climate, es- 
pecially the amount of sunshine and water, modifies flavor 
as well as firmness and color. 

Quality. — Quality in a strawberry is a combination of 
flavor, texture and aroma. The aroma of a fresh, ripe 
strawberry, derived mainly from volatile oils and esters, 
is most enticing. The appeal of the strawberry is to the 
sense of smell as well as to that of taste. Commercial 
ideals have so completely dominated strawberry breed- 
ing since the introduction of the Wilson that it is doubtful 
if the varieties most commonly grown now average as high 
in quality as in 1854. Then the strawberry was mainly 
a garden fruit, although grown in limited quantities for 



174 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

near markets. We have few commercial varieties today 
that compare in quality with the Pines grown by the ama- 
teurs of that period. No modern sort has the exquisite 
flavor of Burr's New Pine, not even Marshall or William 
Belt, our acknowledged standards of excellence. The 
rush of commercial planting that followed the introduction 
of the Wilson swept aside the attributes that had hitherto 
made a variety meritorious for amateur cultivation and 
substituted a single standard, that of profit. Quality has 
been sacrificed to productiveness and firmness. Modern 
varieties are mostly of the lineage of Wilson, Crescent 
and Sharpless. These three sorts are of very ordinary 
quality ; this mediocrity has been impressed upon most 
of their descendants. 

Aroma has been sacrificed as well as flavor. A handful 
of the early Pines and Scarlets perfumed a room with 
delightful and appetizing fragrance. Few contemporane- 
ous sorts have more than a faint and fleeting aroma. 
There can be no criticism of the efforts to secure produc- 
tiveness, hardiness, firmness, size and attractiveness; 
commercial sorts must have all these in order to be valu- 
able. But it does seem that quality has been sacrificed 
needlessly. Few of the leading commercial varieties of 
today are above medium in quality even when at their 
best, which is when ripened on the vines. When shipped 
long distances they are necessarily picked before fully 
mature, often while still somewhat green. These berries 
are likely to be sour or insipid ; they bear little resemblance 
to vine-ripened strawberries. 

Redness in strawberries is a no more reliable sign of 
ripeness than blackness in blackberries; some varieties 
are still sour and immature when they turn red, and are 
not fully ripe for several days thereafter. The Black 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 175 

Defiance was severely condemned as poor in quality when 
it was first introduced, because it was very sour when red 
and apparently ripe ; but when the berries were left on 
the vines until almost maroon in color they were of excel- 
lent quality. The grower who has a near market should 
pick late, and thus secure for his customers the higher 
quality and larger size that come only with full maturity. 
The foregoing are some of the points that make a variety 
worthy of recognition, according to present standards. 
No variety approaches perfection ; every one is deficient 
in some important respects. The "ideal strawberry" 
never will be discovered or originated. As varieties are 
produced that are close to the ideal that we have ourselves 
created, the standard of perfection is advanced still farther. 
It may be approximated but is never quite reached. 
There always will be incentive for the plant breeder. " We 
shall always have to make a choice among varieties," said 
E. P. Roe, "as we do in friends. There is, however, one 
perfect strawberry in existence, the strawberry of memory 
— the little wildings that we gathered, perhaps with those 
over whom the wild strawberry is now growing. We will 
admit no fault in it, and although we may no longer seek 
for this favorite fruit of our childhood, with the finest 
specimens of the garden before us, we sigh for the berries 
that grew on some far off hillside in years still farther 
away." 

Describing and Scoring Varieties 

The varietal characters of the strawberry are so pro- 
foundly modified by climate, soil, altitude, cultural 
methods and other environmental factors that no one set 
of terms can describe a variety so as to fairly represent 
its appearance and behavior in all sections. Size, form. 



176 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

flesh character, flavor, plant-making habits, season and sex 
frequently are modified . Moreover, the differences between 
varieties are so slight that the most detailed description 
would not enable a novice to identify them. Only the man 
who has grown many sorts, and has come to know them 
by personal contact, can distinguish them. However, it 
is desirable to have complete descriptions of varieties as a 
matter of record and as an aid in determining synonyms. 

Form for describing varieties. — Until quite recently, 
there have been few full descriptions. Most of the early 
varieties were described in a fragmentary fashion, without 
including the historical data on origin, parentage and in- 
troduction that are essential in a permanent record. Prac- 
tically all of the early records were merely horticultural 
descriptions — a brief statement of the points that are 
of interest to the practical grower, as affecting the value 
of the variety for commercial culture, such as size, color, 
firmness, season. These descriptions do not enable one 
to distinguish the variety from all others. It is necessary 
to have anatomical descriptions, also ; these record minute 
details of structure and appearance, such as would be of 
little interest to the practical grower but which enable 
the pomologist to distinguish between varieties that are 
very similar in general appearance. These descriptions 
should be based on botanical characters and should ap- 
proach botanical descriptions in conciseness and clearness. 

There is no generally accepted form for a full anatomical 
description, but data on the following points should be 
included : 

Plant 

Constitution. — Vigor ; hardiness ; drought resistance ; 
resistance to disease ; productiveness. 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 177 

Runners. — Number; length; time of making; size, 
texture and color of runner cord. 

Roots. — Abundance ; length ; fibrous or fleshy. 

Foliage. — Abundance and size ; habit ; shape ; color ; 
thickness; toughness; serration of leaflet; length and 
thickness of petiole. 

Fruit stalks. — Length ; thickness ; branching habit ; 
single or double ; length and thickness of individual pe- 
duncles ; blossoms erect or drooping. 

Blossoms. — Season of blooming ; closed or open ; sex ; 
abundance of pollen ; shape of petals. 

Fruit 

Season. — Time of ripening ; duration of picking season. 

Si^e. — Vertical and transverse dimensions and weight ; 
uniformity of size ; ability to maintain good size through- 
out the picking season. 

Form. — Regular or irregular ; shape (ovate, conic, 
oblate, oblong, long conic, or gradations of these) ; uniform- 
ity of shape ; necked or not ; apex acute or obtuse ; sur- 
face smooth, ridged or creased. 

Calyx. — Adherence ; size ; color ; permanence of color ; 
number, size and length of sepals ; recurved or spreading. 

Surface. — Color ; permanence of color after picking ; 
gloss ; thickness and toughness of skin. 

Seeds. — Comparative number ; arrangement, especially 
near tip; prominent or inconspicuous; sunken or pro- 
truding; size; shape; color. 

Flesh. — Color ; texture ; firmness ; juiciness. 

Core. — Hollow or solid ; hard, soft or stringy. 

Flavor. — Sour, sub-acid, mild sub-acid, flat or neutral, 
sweet ; aroma present or lacking. 



178 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Quality. — Very poor, poor, fair, good, very good, excel- 
lent. 

Shipping quality. — Dependent upon size, shape, texture, 
firmness, thickness of skin and other qualities. Ascer- 
tained by shipping tests. 

Freedom from disease. 

Historical data. — Time and place of origin; parentage; 
by whom originated ; date of introduction. 

Score cards. — When a variety of fruit is exhibited in 
competition with other varieties, or seedlings compared, it 
is necessary to have a score card, or standard of excellence, 
so as to reach a fair estimate of the relative worth of each 
and to eliminate personal preferences as far as possible. 
The first North American score card for strawberries 
was suggested by F. W. Card in 1895. He proposed that 
the perfect score for seedlings and varieties be ten points, 
one each for the following characters : vigor, disease resist- 
ance, frost resistance, productiveness, appearance, fra- 
grance, size, texture, regularity, quality. 

In 1897 a committee of the American Pomological 
Society, H. E. Van Deman, Chairman, recommended the 
following score card : 

American Pomological Society Score Card 




DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 179 

This score card applies only to the fruit. A score card 
for both plant and fruit was prepared in 1902 by J. R. 
Reasoner of Urbana, Illinois, after conferring with a num- 
ber of strawberry specialists.^ In this score card, which is 
reported below, Warfield and Dunlap were scored by B. C. 
Warfield, of Sandoval, Illinois, Splendid by J. L. Hartwell, 
of Dixon, Illinois, and Brandywine, Marshall and Parson 
by Matthew Crawford of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. 

Reasoner Score Card 



ScaijE 

OP 

Points 


Chakacteb 


1 


Q 


i 
1 


Iz; 
Iz; 


< 


IS 


5 


Rootage . . . 


4.5 


4.5 


5 


4 


4 


4.5 


5 


Stock and foliage 


4 


4.5 


4.5 


4 


5 


5 


7 


Vitality ; drought 
proof . . . 


5.5 


6 


4.5 


5 


5 


6 


10 


Plant-makers . 


10 


10 


9 


6 


5 


6 


5 


HealtMulness ; 
rust-proof . . 


4 


4.5 


5 


3 


3 


4 


5 


Blossoms ; stami- 
nate-pistillate. 


5 


5 


4.5 


4 


4 


4.5 


25 


Productiveness . 


20 


20 


20 


16 


14 


20 


10 


Size .... 


7 


8 


8 


9 


10 


8 


5 


Shape .... 


5 


5 


5 


4 


5 


4 


5 


Color .... 


5 


5 


4 


4 


5 


4 


8 


Flavor. . . . 


8 


7 


7.5 


6 


7 


5 


10 


Firmness ; ship- 
ping quality . 


9 


9 


9 


8 


7 


8 


100 


Totals . . . 


87 


88.5 


86 


73 


74 


79 



Rept. 111. Hort. Soc, 1902, p. 266. 



180 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



The Reasoner score card also had a "supplemental 
score" in which length of nodes, earliness of bloom, 
earliness of ripening, duration of picking season and 
holding size of berries to end of season each counted ten 
points. 

In 1903 A. T. Goldsborough, a strawberry breeder of 
Washington, D. C, used the following score card on his 
seedlings : 



GOLDSBOKOUGH ScORE CaRD 



Productiveness . 

Size 

Shape .... 
Color .... 
Duration of picking 
Sweetness . . . 
Firmness . . . 
Absence of rot . 
Keeping quality . 
Color of flesh 
Calyx, or cap 
Flavor .... 
Fragrance . . . 
Total for fruit 



8 
8 
6 
5 
5 
5 
4 
4 
4 
3 
3 
3 

60 



Runner habits .... 8 

Disease resistance ... 6 

Rootage 3 

Vigor 5 

FoUage 4 

Crowning 3 

Leaf stems 3 

Fruit stalks 3 

Blossoms 3 

Size _2 

Total for plant ... 40 



There is bound to be wide divergence of views as to the 
relative importance of different characters. It is not prac- 
ticable to subject varieties or seedlings to the same score 
card in all sections. Under some conditions a certain 
character may be of prime importance, under others quite 
incidental ; drought resistance, for example, would be ac- 
corded more weight in western Nebraska than in west- 
ern Washington. The following score cards are suggested 
for average conditions; they should be modified to fit 
local conditions. It is more satisfactory to score fruit 
and plant separately. 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 181 
Score Card for Fruit 





For Commer- 
cial Use 


For Home 

Use 


Size 


20 
3 

20 
3 
2 

I 

30 
2 

15 
100 


25 


Form 


3 


Color 


15 


Calyx 

Seeds 


3 
2 


Color of flesli 


3 


Texture 






5 


Firmness ; 
tion 


keeping qualities; 


eondi- 


12 


Core 


2 


Quality (including aroma) 


. . . 


30 
100 



Uniformity to be considered, especially in scoring size, 
form and color. 

Score Card for Plant 

Vigor 10 

Hardiness 10 

Drought resistance ; rooting habit 5 

Resistance to disease 10 

Foliage; habit 5 

Runners 10 

Season of blossoming ; frost resistance 5 

Fruit stalks 5 

Blossoms 10 

Productiveness 20 

Season of ripening ; duration of picking season .... 5 

Holding size of fruit until end of season 5 

100 

Food Value 

The strawberry is more appetizing than nutritious. 
It consists chiefly of sweetened and pleasantly acidulated 



182 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

water. It is valued more for its vegetable acids, combined 
with sugar and water, than for the very small amount 
of nutrients it contains. The Horticultural Depart- 
ment of the Ohio State University, averaging many 
analyses, found that strawberries contain 8 per cent of 
carbohydrates, three- tenths of 1 per cent of proteids and 
but a trace of fats. W. R. Lazenby points out that since 
the minimum daily ration of nutrients for an average per- 
son is about 17.8 ounces of carbohydrates, 4.2 ounces of 
proteids and two ounces of fats, he would have to eat 
eighty-eight pounds of strawberries daily in order to secure 
enough proteids to be properly nourished.^ This is a 
gastronomic feat that few would care to attempt. 

The low food value of strawberries is shown in the fol- 
lowing analyses by G. W. Shaw : ^ 

Table I. Food Value op the Strawberry 











Nitrogen 






Wateb 


Dry 

Matter 


Protein 


Free Ex- 
tract, Fat 
AND Fiber 


Ash 


Fresh prunes COre- 












gon Italians) 


77.07 


22.03 


1.09 


20.56 


.86 


Cherries (Oregon) 


81.30 


18.70 


.90 


17.30 


.50 


Potatoes . . . 


78.30 


21.70 


2.20 


17.50 


1.00 


String Beans . . 


89.20 


10.80 


2.30 


7.70 


.80 


Strawberries (Ore- 












gon) .... 


88.57 


11.43 


.86 


9.41 


.41 



In 1892, W. E. Stone, of the Tennessee Experiment Sta- 
tion, analyzed twenty varieties of strawberries.^ He found 

1 Trans. Mass. Hort. Soc, 1910, p. 92. 

2 Bui. 62, Ore. Exp. Sta. (1900), pp. 6-8. 

3 Bui. 4, Vol. II, Tenn. Exp. Station (1892), p. 71. 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 183 

the dry matter averaged but 9.5 per cent, less than in any 
other fruit, apples having 16 to 20 per cent, pears 15 to 20 
per cent, peaches (flesh) 11 to 14 per cent, plums (flesh) 
18 to 20 per cent, currants 11 to 14 per cent, grapes 15 to 
20 per cent. About one-half of the dry matter is glucose. 
The free acid in strawberries is largely malic; in his 
samples it averaged 1.37 per cent of the dry matter, while 
in apples it averages 0.8 per cent ; pears, 0.2 per cent ; 
plums, 0.9 per cent; currants, 4.7 per cent. The large 
amount of acid in the strawberry, as compared with 
other dessert fruits, is responsible for its disfavor with a 
few persons. 

Are wild strawberries sweeter than cultivated varieties f — 
Fragrant memories of the wild strawberries of our child- 
hood make them seem sweeter than they really were. Most 
wild strawberries are sourer than the best cultivated vari- 
eties. W. E. Stone found the proportion of acid to sugar 
in wild strawberries to be 1 to 2. In cultivated varieties 
it was 1 to 3.5. According to Shaw, an average of North 
American analyses shows a ratio of acid to sugar of 1 to 
7, and, of European analyses, 1 to 5. In 1879, Goessman 
found the ratio in wild strawberries to be 1 to 2. It is 
quite evident that there has been a marked improvement 
in the sweetness of strawberries since they were brought 
under cultivation. The sweetest berries, except those of 
memory, are no longer in the woods and meadows ; they 
are in the gardens. This applies, however, only to berries 
that are allowed to stay on the vines until fully ripe ; most 
of the berries on the market are sour, because they were 
picked green. 

The best European varieties are sweeter than ours, 
as is shown by the analyses of Stone and Shaw. The 
latter gives the following table : 



184 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 
Table II. Proportion of Acid to Sugar in Strawberries 



European varieties (J. 

Konig) 

Tennessee varieties (W. 

E. Stone) 

Oregon varieties (G. W. 

Shaw) 



Water 



87.66 
90.52 

85.57 



Drt! 

Matter 



12.34 

9.48 

11.43 



Pro- 
tein 



.57 
.99 



Total 

Sdgar 



6.28 
5.36 

5.80 



Acid 



.93 
1.37 

.75 



Fiber 



2.32 
1.55 



Ash 



.81 
.62 
.41 



Supposed medicinal value. — The earliest books referring 
to horticulture were the herbals, printed four and five 
centuries ago. These catalogued and described plants for 
their supposed medicinal properties. The strawberry 
must have been more potent then than now, if we are to 
accept the authority of the herbals. In his "Paradisus 
Terrestris," published in 1629, John Parkinson discourses 
freely upon The Vfe of Strawberries. 

"The leaves of Strawberries are alwaies vfed among 
other herbs in cooling drinkes, as alfo in lotions and gar- 
gles for the mouth and throate : The rootes are fometimes 
added to make it the more effectuall, andwdthall fomewhat 
binding. The berries themf elves are often brought to the 
Table as a reare ferince, whereunto claret wine, creame, 
or milke, if added with fugar as everyone liketh ; af alfo 
at other times, both with the better and meaner fort, and 
are a good cooling and pleafant difh in the hot fvmmer 
feafon : The water dif tilled of the berries if good for the 
paffions of the hearte, cauf ed by the perturbation of the 
fpirits, being eyther drunke alone or in wine, and maketh 
the hearte merry." 

In folk medicine, or the doctrine of signatures, straw- 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 185 

berries were supposed to cure all diseases of the heart, 
because they were red and shaped like that organ. It 
was believed that to dream of strawberries was an excel- 
lent omen, especially to the young bachelor, as "such a 
dream will insure him a wife who will not only be angelic 
in temper, but also a prolific bearer of boys." 

As grown in North America, the strawberry was found 
to have lost but little of this remarkable eflScacy. In his 
Young Gardener's Assistant, published in 1812, Thomas 
Bridgman recommended them unreservedly to his fellow 
sufferers: "Physicians concur in placing strawberries in 
their small catalogue of pleasant remedies as having prop- 
erties that render them, in most conditions of the animal 
frame, positively salutary ; they dissolve the tartarous in- 
crustations of the teeth ; they promote perspiration. Per- 
sons affected with the gout have found relief from using 
them very largely ; so have patients in case of the stone ; 
and Hoffman states that he has known consumptive people 
cured of them." Downing was able to subscribe to "the 
oft-quoted instance of the great Linnaeus curing himself 
of gout by partaking freely of strawberries, a proof of its 
great wholesomeness." 

Value of the strawberry in the diet. — Modern strawberries 
are sadly degenerate in curative properties. For the past 
twenty-five years, at least, no severe cases of gout, gall- 
stone, consumption, or passions of the heart have been 
reported as cured by their use. In fact, there is a tendency 
to ascribe evil to this fruit, rather than good. Because 
there are more cases of insanity in early summer than at 
other times of the year, some have concluded that straw- 
berries are responsible for it. The press frequently contains 
articles purporting to prove that the strawberry is the most 
unwholesome of fruits, causing digestive disturbances, rashes 



186 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

and rheumatism. Nearly every kind of food is harmful to 
an occasional person. Some cannot eat pork ; to others 
tomatoes are "poison.'' Veal, melons, cucumbers, choco- 
late, apples and many other staple foods, are harmful to 
a few people. Not one person in a thousand is harmfully 
affected by strawberries, when eaten in moderation. To 
a very few persons strawberries are distinctly injurious, but 
the number is insignificant compared with the multitude 
who are benefited by using them freely. 

Most of this unjustified criticism of the strawberry is 
due to the fact that it contains more acid than other 
dessert fruits. This condition is aggravated when the 
fruit is picked before fully ripe in order that it may be 
shipped to distant markets. Strawberries disagree with 
people chiefly because they are picked and eaten when 
unripe. Berries that are fully matured on the vines, in 
home gardens, rarely cause trouble. The less sugar used 
on strawberries, the better. Nothing spoils the flavor 
and aroma of a perfect strawberry more effectively than an 
excess of sugar. If the berries are unripe and sour, the 
sugar that is added does not take the place of the sweet- 
ness that nature would have provided had they ripened on 
the vines. 

Over two centuries ago, while Izaak Walton was showing 
a young friend how to catch fish and, at the same time, was 
expounding a genial philosophy of life, he gave point to 
his instruction by quoting the words of "good Doctor 
Boteler," who said : " Doubtless, God could have made 
a better berry than the strawberry, but, doubtless, God 
never did." This remark since has been credited to Lord 
Bacon, Henry Ward Beecher, Reverend Sydney Smith 
and several lesser lights. Whatever fame good Doctor 
Boteler may have achieved in other respects, it is likely 



DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 187 

that he will be remembered longest for this bit of wisdom, 
enshrined in the discourse of the fisherman-philosopher. 
His discerning estimate of the strawberry is received with 
as much approbation today as Walton gave it. The 
chemist tells us that the strawberry has but little fuel 
value ; that it is mostly sweetened water. How futile to 
measure the worth of this fruit in calories ! As well value 
the sunbeam only for its heat, or the cloud only for its 
water. The rich color, enticing fragrance and racy flavor 
of the strawberry make an appeal to the senses that can- 
not be expressed in terms of food value. Opinions differ 
as to the palatability of the strawberry, but the remarks 
of "Josh Billings" express the convictions of most people : 
"Cherrys is good, but they are tew much like suck- 
ing a marbel with a handle tew it. Peaches is good if you 
don't get any of the pin feathers intew your lips. Watter- 
melons will sute anyboddy who is satisfied with half sweet- 
ened drinks ; but the man who kan eat strawberrys, be- 
sprinkled with kream (at someboddy's else's expense) and 
not lay his hand on his stummuck and thank the Author 
of strawberries and stummucks, iz a man with a worn-out 
conscience — a man whose mouth tastes like a hole in the 
ground, and don't care what gose down it." 



CHAPTER VI 
BREEDING 

A FKUiT is improved either by the raising of seedlings 
from hand-sown seeds, whether hand-crossed or not, or 
by the discovery of superior chance seedHngs. In either 
ease the improvement results from interest and effort 
on the part of man. A superior chance seedling does 
not contribute to the improvement of the species unless 
some one is alert to detect it, and takes the trouble to 
protect and propagate it. 

Notwithstanding the ease with which new varieties 
of strawberry may be raised, most of the older varieties 
were chance seedlings. The parentage is known of only 
about one-sixth of the 1879 North American varieties. 
Many of the most prominent commercial varieties were 
chance seedlings. The list includes such standard sorts 
as Crescent, Warfield, Bubach, Michel, Marshall and 
Brandywine. On the other hand, the Hovey, Wilson, 
Sharpless, Dunlap, Haverland, Gandy, Aroma and Klon- 
dike were produced from hand-sown seeds. It must 
be admitted that wayside seedlings have contributed 
almost as much to the improvement of the garden straw- 
berry as varieties produced by definite breeding. The 
strawberry escapes from cultivation so easily and pro- 
duces self-sown seedlings so readily that this will continue 
to be a prolific source of new varieties. During the past 
ten years the varieties produced by breeders have in- 

188 



BREEDING 189 

creased in number and in value. It is probable that in 
the future most of the improvement will be through defi- 
nite breeding rather than through chance seedlings. 

The Foue Stem-Varieties 

The varieties that have contributed most to the im- 
provement of the strawberry in North America through 
their seedlings are the Hovey, Wilson, Crescent and Sharp- 
less. Of the 1879 varieties of North American origin, 
the parents of only 348 are known with certainty. Sixty- 
three are descendants of Crescent, sixty-nine of Sharp- 
less, forty-eight of Wilson and fifty-one of Hovey. Thus, 
approximately two-thirds of the varieties of known 
parentage have come from these four stem varieties. It 
is natural that such noteworthy sorts should have been 
used for breeding more than others. The Crescent and 
Sharpless seem to have possessed more virility, or ability 
to produce valuable seedlings, than the Hovey or the 
Wilson. 

Descendants of the Hovey. — There are fifty-one varieties 
of the lineage of the Hovey, most of them descending 
through Green Prolific and Cumberland Triumph. The 
most notable of these are Aroma, Clyde, Cumberland 
Triumph, Cyclone, Monarch and Ozark. The complete 
list follows. Those that are starred are in cultivation 
today. 

*Aroma Charles' Favorite *Cyclone 

Babylon *Charles Newman *Daisy (of Zane) 

Banana Chorlton's Prolific Elizabeth (of Ohio) 

Black Defiance *Clyde Eureka (of Town- 

*Bountiful Columbus send) 

*Brownie Cumberland *Franees Cleveland 
Burr's New Pine Triumph Genesee 



190 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



Green Prolific 


Orient 


♦Sheppard 


Hiawatha 


Ottawa 


♦Shuster 


Huddlestone's Fa- 


*Ozark 


♦Sons 


vorite 


Peak's Emperor 


Sucker State 


Malvina 


President Wilder 


Superlative 


*Marie 


♦Robbie 


Viola 


♦Monarch 


♦Roosevelt (of Cath- 


Woodruff 


Monroe Scarlet 


coit) 


♦Wooster 


Morgansteoma 


Scarlet Melting 


Yahoo 


Mote's Seedling 


Scarlet ProHfic 


Zula 


Ohio Mammoth 


Seth Boyden 




Onondaga 


Shawnee 





Descendants of the Wilson. — Fewer valuable varieties 
have descended from the Wilson than from either Cres- 
cent or Sharpless. The most notable are Early Hathaway 
and Excelsior (of Bubach). The forty-one sorts that 
are of Wilson blood are given below : 



Abington Blush 


♦Early Harvest 


Kramer 


Alpha (of Arnold) 


♦Early Hathaway 


Maggie 


Arena 


Endicott 


♦Maud MuUer 


Arnold's Pride 


♦Excelsior (of Hu- 


Miami 


Backett's ProHfic 


bach) 


Moore's Early 


Big Bob 


Fleming 


Nicanor 


♦Bisel 


Florence 


Old John Brown 


Boudinot 


Gamargua 


Ottawa 


Bright Ida 


Golden Queen 


♦Ozark 


Bryan's Satisfaction 


Haight 


Peak's Emperor 


♦Charles Newman 


♦Hubach and Hath- 


Prouty Seedhng 


♦Cobden 


away 


♦Satisfaction 


♦Cobden King 


Huddlestone's Fa- 


Smith's Seedhng 


Crimson Favorite 


vorite 


Sucker State 


Duncan (of Lucas) 


♦Jim Dumas 





Descendants of Sharpless. — Sixty-nine varieties have 
come from the Sharpless. The most notable of these 
are Enhance, Haverland and Jessie. Four of them — 
Haverland, Manokin, Tennessee (of Hodges) and Williams 
(of Ontario) have Crescent blood also : 





BREEDING 


191 


Arrow 


♦Heritage 


♦Ninety-six 


Auburn 


Hobson's Choice 


Ona 


♦Barton 


♦Howard (of Black) 


♦Oom Paul 


Benoy 


♦Hubach and Hath- 


♦Oregon 


♦Berlin (of Schild) 


away 


♦Paul Jones 


*Buster 


Hunn 


♦PhiHps 


♦Carrie 


♦Jerry Rusk 


♦Porto Rico 


♦Carrie Silvers 


♦Jessie 


♦Purdue 


Chair's Favorite 


♦Jim Dumas 


♦QuaHty (of N. Y. 


♦Columbia (of Wild) 


♦Joe 


Ex. Sta.) 


Dutter 


♦July 


Rio 


Effie (of Beaver) 


♦Lady Jane 


♦Rose Ettersburg 


♦Elma 


Leo 


♦St. Louis (of Bauer) 


♦Enhance 


Leviathan 


♦Sparta 


Felton 


♦Lindenwald 


♦SteUa 


♦Fisher 


♦Luxury 


♦Tennessee (of 


Gamargua 


♦Manokin 


Hodges) 


Gillespie 


♦Marconi 


Tom Walker 


♦Glastonbury 


Mark 


♦Velvet 


Governor Hoard 


♦Midnight 


Viola (of Kershaw) 


♦Haverland 


♦Mrs. Fisher 


♦Virginia 


♦Helen Gould 


Mrs. Garfield 


♦Warren (of Thomp- 


Henry Ward 


♦Nettie 


son) 


Beecher 


♦Nicaragua 


♦Williams (of Ont.) 



Descendants of Crescent. — Sixty-three varieties have 
come from the Crescent, of which the most notable are 
Clyde, Haverland, Parker Earle, Ridgeway and Tennessee. 



Arrow 

Auburn 
♦Berhn (of Schild) 

Bessie (of Schadle- 

bach) 
♦Bismarck 
♦Bountiful 
♦Bradley 
♦Carrie 

♦Carrie Silvers 
♦Clyde 

♦Columbia (of Wild) 
♦Cyclone 
♦Daisy (of Zane) 



♦De Wet 

Dora 
♦Enormous 

Gillespie 
♦Glastonbury 
♦Ham 
♦Haverland 
♦Hawaii 
♦Heath 

Hobson's Choice 
♦Indiana (of Schild) 
♦Ionia 
♦Johnson 
♦July 



♦Kevitt 
♦Lady Jane 

Lehigh 

♦Louis Hubach 
♦Luxury 
♦Manokin 

May King 
♦Mele 
♦Midnight 

Morgansteoma 
♦Nicaragua 
♦Olive 

Ona 
♦Parker Earle 



192 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



*Paul Jones 


*Robinson 


♦Tennessee 


*Phi1ip 


♦Roosevelt (of Cath- 


Hodges) 


*Porto Rioo 


coit) 


♦Van Deman 


*Red Prolific 


*St. Louis (of Bauer) 


Vineless 


*Ridgeway 


♦Shuster 




*Robbie 


♦Stone 





(of 



Breeding for a Specific Purpose 

Considering the ease with which new varieties may 
be produced and the great number that have been intro- 
duced, there has been surprisingly Httle progress since 
the introduction of the Longworth, in 1851 ; this variety 
still is with us for comparison. We have few, if any, 
varieties that are superior in size, attractiveness and 
quality to the Hovey of 1836. None is more vigorous 
or productive under indifferent care than the Wilson of 
1854. There has been improvement, but it has not been 
as marked as might have been expected. 

Changing ideals. — The ideals in strawberry breeding 
change with the generations. Until about 1870, the 
efforts of northern breeders were directed mainly to se- 
curing extra early varieties, even though this involved 
a considerable sacrifice in yield. Then came the rapid 
extension of raihoads and the introduction of refrigera- 
tion. Southern berries began to reach Northern markets 
long before the earliest local berries were ripe. There 
has been little demand in the North for the extra early but 
light-yielding varieties since then except for supplying 
a personal market. Forty years ago, light scarlet berries 
were accepted as readily as dark crimson berries, and 
sometimes were preferred. Now it would be difficult 
to find a market for a variety as light colored as the Cum- 
berland Triumph. In the days when nearly all com- 



BREEDING 193 

mercial strawberry culture was within a few miles of 
cities, the larger the berries were, the better. It did not 
make much difference if they were quite irregular in shape. 
Only berries of medium size — not much over an inch in 
diameter, and of regular shape, can be shipped one thou- 
sand miles or more with assurance that they will reach 
the market in perfect condition. 

Breeding for one thing at a time. — The first essential 
in undertaking to produce a valuable new variety, there- 
fore, is to know what kind of strawberry is wanted. The 
desirable characters of varieties, according to present 
standards, are considered in Chapter V. In one section 
certain of these characters are more important than in 
others. The object of the breeder is to produce a variety 
that will more perfectly fulfill one or more of these condi- 
tions than any now grown. It is not possible to produce 
a variety that excels in all particulars. High quality 
rarely accompanies marked firmness; the best shipping 
varieties are usually of indifferent quality. It is best to 
breed for one quality at a time. If hardiness is most 
essential, the hardiest known varieties or species are used, 
even though they may be deficient in some other respects ; 
these defects may be corrected after seedlings of the 
desired degree of hardiness are secured. 

The time has passed when strawberry breeders can 
seek to produce, as they once did, "the best all-round 
variety." Our horticulture has become greatly diversi- 
fied. The adaptations of certain varieties to certain 
regions are marked, and different markets require dif- 
ferent types of berries. Those who breed for a specific 
object are more likely to reach their goal than those who 
raise seedlings indiscriminately. Before making a cross, 
some specific ideal should be clearly in mind, such as a 



194 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Klondike that is ten days earlier; a variety adapted to 
the hot climate of the Imperial Valley, California; a 
William Belt that is more resistant to leaf spot ; a variety 
that has the qualities of color, firmness, acidity and pro- 
ductiveness that make it especially valuable for canning. 
The way in which a strawberry breeder should direct 
his efforts toward a specific object is illustrated by the 
work of N. E. Hansen and C. C. Georgeson. The winters 
in northern Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Mani- 
toba and Saskatchewan are so severe that most of the 
common varieties winter-kill outright, even under a 
heavy mulch. Others are not killed, but are so weakened 
that the stand is poor and the yield light. In 1899 and 
1900 N. E. Hansen, of the South Dakota Experiment 
Station, began work to produce " varieties that will be 
hardy without winter mulch or protection of any kind." 
The Dakota prairie strawberry, a form of F. virginiana, 
was crossed with some of the hardiest of the standard 
sorts, including Princess, Warfield, Enhance, Van Deman, 
Beder Wood, Bisel, Seaford and Glen Mary, which were 
found hardy in about the order named. The prairie 
strawberry does not winter-kill but it is defective in other 
respects, especially in size, and in multiplicity of runners. 
Efforts were made by Hansen to improve the native berry 
by making selections of pure seedlings as well as by cross- 
ing it with good varieties. The result was a number of 
seedlings that are able to endure forty degrees (F.) below 
zero without being mulched; but they are so small in 
berry that they are of value only where the standard 
varieties winter-kill. This work is being continued with 
the wild strawberry of Alaska, which has larger fruit than 
the prairie strawberry. The work of C. C. Georgeson, 
at the Alaska Experiment Station, is another illustration 



BREEDING 195 

of strawberry breeding to secure varieties adapted to a 
certain region. In 1906 he crossed an unknown culti- 
vated variety with a species which is indigenous to the 
Alaska coast from Muir Glacier to Prince William Sound ; 
it is considered to be a form of F. chiloensis. Some of 
the varieties thus produced are valuable for the coast 
region of Alaska, but not for the interior. 

Selecting the parents. — Having conceived an ideal of 
a variety that will be superior to existing sorts in at least 
one important respect, the next step is to secure for its 
parents those varieties or species that possess this char- 
acter to the most marked degree. Usually improved 
varieties are selected, but, if necessary, wild forms of 
Frag aria may be used. The various native species, 
F. virginiana, F. chiloensis, F. calif ornica and others, hy- 
bridize readily, including those marked departures from the 
type that some botanists distinguish by separate specific 
names, as F. canadensis and F. americana. For many years, 
Albert F. Etter, of Ettersburg, California, has been crossing 
F. chiloensis, F. calif ornica and F. vesca upon some of the 
standard varieties, especially the Sharpless and Parry. 
The Ettersburg Trebla is a composite of all these forms. 
Recently he has used F. indica, also. F. mexicana, which is 
quite similar to, if not identical with, F. vesca, has been used 
successfully. Rarely can F. elatior, the Hautbois straw- 
berry, be used to advantage; it does not cross readily 
with F. virginiana or the common cultivated varieties, 
neither does it have characters that are desired in the 
strawberry at this time. 

Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa, California, describes 
one of his remarkable hybrids between the strawberry and 
the raspberry, as follows : ^ " Out of seven or eight hun- 

1 "New Creations of Fruits and Flowers," June, 1893, p. 35. 



196 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

dred of these curious hybrids not one has ever produced 
a berry, though blooming with the greatest profusion. 
As the blossoms fade, a bunch forms resembling a minia- 
ture strawberry, but it never matures. The plants, 
when young, are practically strawberry plants, but, 
with age, produce canes five or six feet high, multiply- 
ing by curious underground stolons. The leaves are 
trifoliate invariably; the canes are thornless, or nearly 
so." A cluster of blossoms and some of the leaves, shown 
in the photograph accompanying this description, re- 
semble the raspberry more than the strawberry. 

During the past few years the results of crossing have 
been made somewhat more predictable by the discovery 
and application to breeding of Mendel's law.^ C. W. 
Richardson, reporting upon some crosses between a 
runnerless Alpine strawberry and a running variety, 
showed that in this case runner production was "marked 
dominant." ^ 

Botanical relationships and morphology. — A knowl- 
edge of the anatomy of the strawberry plant and of its 
botanical relationships is of value to the breeder. The 
following statement by H. de Vilmorin is of interest : ^ 
"The species included in the genus Fragaria appear to 
stand on the very border between herbaceous and shrubby 
plants. Potentillas, which are next to them in botanical 
classification, have a still wider range of organization; 
some of them, as P. anserina, being perfectly herbaceous, 
and others, as P. fruticosa, being decidedly shrubs, with 
woody permanent stems. Strawberries are mostly placed 

1 The reader is referred to "Plant Breeding," by Bailey and 
Gilbert, for a full discussion of the principles and practice of plant 
breeding. 

2 Jour. Genetics, 3 (1914), No. 3, pp. 171-177. 

' Trans. Royal Hort. Soc, 1898-9, pp. 318-319. 



BREEDING 



197 



just on the intermediate step between the two. Their 
short-jointed, thick stems bear from eight to twelve 
leaves, at the axil of which a bud develops, which seldom 
becomes abortive, and mostly develops either into a 
branch similar to the main stem or into a runner, or 
into a flower stem, these appendages being, in a manner, 
equivalent and, so to speak, interchangeable with one 
another. 

"The runner, at first sight, appears as different as 
possible from the ordinary leaf -bearing stem ; it becomes 
very plain, however, upon closer inspection, that it is 
merely an elongated branch, dissimilar to the original 
one simply in the great length of the internodes and in 
the diminutive size of the leaves, which are mostly re- 
duced to mere bracts. But the runners sliow their identity 
with the normal branches in produc- 
ing from their knots exactly the 
same appendages as the primitive 
stems do, viz. : regular stems, run- 
ners, and even flower stems ; and in 
bearing, also, abortive axillary buds 
occasionally." 

The very short stem of the culti- 
vated strawberry is a form of 
rhizome. It develops largely under- 
ground and roots at the nodes. As 
the plant grows older, the stem 
elongates or divides : New roots 
form each year above the old ones, 
which die at the close of the season ; 
hence, the plant becomes more shal- 
low-rooted each year. Eventually, the plant pushes itself 
out of the ground. Unless new soil is drawn over the 




Fig. 19. — The long 
root stalk of a very old 
plant. 



198 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

roots, the roots become more and more exposed ; finally 
the plant succumbs to cold or drought. In early spring 
the roots are fresh and vigorous, and stay so until after 
the crop is off ; then they turn black, die and new roots 
start. The roots of some varieties, as Jucunda, are 
fleshy and shallow, resembling, in this respect, the roots 
of F. chiloensis. The roots of other varieties are wiry 
and anchored deeply in the ground, as is the case with 
F. virginiana. At first a young strawberry plant has only 
one crown, but if the runners are kept off it will have 
many crowns. The crown is a fleshy stem and bears buds 
like any other stem. Some of these buds become runners ; 
others become fruit stalks. 

When fruit buds are formed. — In the North the 
fruit buds are formed in late fall. The conditions that 
determine the time of fruit bud formation in Wisconsin 
have been studied by E. S. Goff. He reports:^ "The 
elaboration of the initial flower cells into flowers takes 
place, mainly, after the development of runners has ceased, 
because the branches that form flowers beneath the ter- 
minal bud are later in order of development than the later 
formed runners. It seems probable that the elaboration 
of the flowers takes place rather late in autumn, when 
growth is declining, and that the rapid development 
of the flower stalk in spring is but the expansion of the 
autumn-formed cells, as is the case with most of the early 
flowering shoots. Since the flower stalk is the terminal 
or leader shoot of the plant, it follows that the seedling 
strawberry plant and young runner plant form but one 
flower stalk the first season that the plant blooms; but, 
as the stem of a plant more than one year old may have 
more than one branch, so an old strawberry plant may 
1 Kept. Wis. Exp. Sta., 1898, p. 235. 



BREEDING 



199 



have more than one flower stalk." Goff made a micro- 
scopic study of the formation of flowers in the Clyde. ^ 
Beginning July 5th, samples were taken weekly, both of 
old plants wintered over from the preceding year and of 
runners. There were no indications of flower develop- 
ment until September 20th, when the initial stage sud- 
denly appeared, both in the old plants and the runners. 
By September 27th the terminal flowers and several 
axillary flowers could be distinguished readily. "The 
flowers appeared to start about the same time in the 
younger rooted runner plants as in the parent plant. 
This shows clearly that it is not age alone that deter- 
mines the time of formation of the flowers." He explained 
the sudden appearance of the flower buds on September 




Fig. 20. — Proliferous strawberry. 



20th in this way : " It appears that a decided decline in 

the maximum temperature occurred at almost exactly 

the time the flowers commenced to form." These obser- 

1 Rept. Wis. Exp. Sta., 1900, pp. 227-9. 



200 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



vations indicate that in the North any treatment designed 
to increase the number or strength of the flower buds 
must be given the season before the plants fruit. 

Farther South, the flower buds are formed much later. 
In Missouri, W. H. Chandler was "unable to find the 
flower parts of the strawberry earlier than February 
or March, and experience indicates that the number of 
fruit stems sent up from any crown can be influenced by 
spring treatment." ^ It is probable that any decided 
check in growth, whether due to low temperature or 
lack of moisture, will cause the plant to make flower buds, 
provided it has arrived at a certain period of maturity. 
A midsummer drought causes plants to bloom and pro- 
duce a fall crop ; if conditions are favorable, the crop 
borne by these plants the following spring may be nearly 
or quite as large as usual. In south- 
ern California, flower bud formation 
and fruit bearing are more or less 
continuous, but a severe check in 
growth, such as is produced by with- 
holding irrigation and cutting off 
runners, causes the plants to fruit 
more abundantly at certain seasons. 
Abnormal structural forms. — 
These frequently appear, especially a 
fruit with a stem growing beyond it 
(Fig. 20). A Bubach berry with a 
short stem coming directly from the 
flesh of the berry and bearing a tiny flower set in the 
midst of three small leaves was reported in 1900.^ A 
more unusual form was found by M. T. Cook in 

1 Bull. 113, Mo. Exp. Sta., p. 279. 

2 Rural New Yorker, 1900, p. 482. 




Fig. 21. — An abnormal 
structural form. 



BREEDING 



201 



Cuba.i "There 
was an extension 
of the stem through 
the fruit. In some 
cases it was simply 
extended as a leafy 
shoot, while in 
others a small berry 
wasproduced about 
an inch beyond the 
firstone"(Fig.21). 
Since the fruit stalk 
is merely a meta- 
morphosed runner 
which has become 
erect, it can be seen 
why a stem may occasionally spring from the berry just 
as it does from a layer plant. 




Fig. 22. — A freak strawberry ; the exposed 
seed carpels are covered with pulp, like a 
blackberry. 



Breeding Methods 

There has been much indefinite and futile effort in 
strawberry breeding. Some enthusiastic amateurs have 
entertained the notion that superior new varieties can 
be produced simply by growing the seeds of exception- 
ally large and attractive berries. There is a chance that 
among thousands of seedlings produced in this haphazard 
fashion one may be of merit, but usually the result is 
wholly disappointing. 

Methods of the early breeders. — The only way to be 
absolutely sure of the parentage of seedlings is to pollinate 
the blossoms by hand. It is possible that berries not 

1 Estac. Cent. Agron. (Cuba), Rept. 2 (1905-9), pt. 2, p. 142. 



202 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 




produced by hand-crossing may be self -pollinated if there 
is no other variety blossoming at the same time within 
about 500 feet; but this cannot be certain. Some of 

the early strawberry breeders 
took a middle course; they 
planted two varieties close 
together at some distance 
from other varieties, in the 
expectation that they would 
cross-pollinate naturally and 
that the seedlings would com- 
bine the qualities of both 
parents. When one of the 
varieties was a pistillate and 
the other staminate, this 
method was fairly satisfac- 
tory ; but there was a large 
element of uncertainty, be- 
cause of the possibility of pollination from other sources. 
The method used by Seth Boyden, originator of many 
noted sorts, was to set four plants of the staminate variety 
in a square, with one plant of a pistillate variety in the 
center. These were given high culture and covered with 
a small frame and sash before they bloomed. F. W. 
Louden, originator of the Jessie, made his crosses on 
plants in eight inch pots. These were kept in the cellar 
through the winter and placed close together in hot beds 
about the middle of March. The object w^as to bring 
the plants into bloom two or three weeks before straw- 
berries in the field, so that it would not be necessary to 
cover the beds with sash to exclude insect visitors. Many 
other methods of securing cross-pollination, without the 
necessity of hand-crossing, have been tried. The Hovey, 



Fig. 23. — A staminate blos- 
som, showing the numerous yel- 
low anthers, containing the pol- 
len, surrounding the cone of green 
pistils. A pistillate blossom lacks 
well-developed stamens. 



BREEDING 203 

the first variety of fruit originated in North America, 
was produced by hand-crossing. Nearly all the numer- 
ous varieties produced by E. W. Durand, of Irvington, New 
Jersey, between 1865 and 1880 were the result of hand- 
crossing. At present, most strawberry breeders practice 
hand-pollination ; it is the only way to be sure of results. 
Hand-crossing. — The work may be done in the field 
or in the greenhouse. Most of those who breed straw- 
berries extensively find it best to work with potted plants 
in the greenhouse or in cold frames, because conditions 
can be controlled more perfectly than in the field and the 
crossing can be done when other work is not pressing. 
Strong plants in six inch pots are brought into bloom, 
and the number of blossoms on a fruit stalk reduced to 
five or six.^ Before these have expanded fully the anthers 
are cut off while still unopened, using a sharp scalpel or 
small scissors. Some prefer to pull off the anthers with 
tweezers. It is best not to mutilate the blossoms, except 
to cut off the anthers; the petals and sepals should not 
be cut. Be careful that none of the anthers lodge in the 
blossoms. If the seed-bearing parent is a pistillate vari- 
ety, it is important to cut out all the rudimentary sta- 
mens; frequently these are half hidden and inconspicu- 
ous, but produce enough pollen to vitiate the results. 
Many pistillate varieties, as the Crescent, produce enough 
pollen to use for crossing. If there are staminate varie- 
ties near, other than the one to be used as a pollinizer, 
it is necessary either to isolate all emasculated plants or 
to cover each fruit stalk with a paper sack, after it has 
been prepared for pollination. These are preferably 
of tough, oiled, tissue paper, but ordinary manila sacks 

^The methods of forcing strawberries are detailed in " Straw- 
berry-Growing," Chapter XIII. 



204 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

may be used. They should be tied closely at the bottom. 
Pollen-carrying insects are not present in the greenhouse, 
yet currents of air may distribute the pollen to some ex- 
tent. If care is used in watering and ventilating, practi- 
cal isolation is secured by separating the male and female 
plants several feet. 

If only a few crosses are to be made, pollen may be 
secured from the fully opened blossoms of the male 
plant and transferred directly to the pistils, provided 
both mature at the same time. When many crosses are 
to be made, and the blossoms of the male parent mature 




Fig. 24. — Anthers clipped off and exposed to the sun, to secure pollen. 

a few days earlier than those of the female, the pollen 
should be secured beforehand. A large number of fully 
developed anthers are clipped off closely and exposed 
to the sun upon sheets of paper (Fig. 24). The anthers 
soon burst; then most of them may be winnowed off, 
leaving the dry pollen. This is preserved until needed 
in small paper envelopes or vials ; if kept in bottles, these 
should not be corked, as pollen ferments easily. C. S. 
Crandall finds that the maximum period that strawberry 
pollen will retain its viability is fifteen days.^ 

1 Proc. Soc. Hort. Sei., 9 (1912), pp. 121-30. 



BREEDING 



205 



Pollination is done when the pistils are receptive. This 
is when the stigmas are covered with a glistening, sticky 
fluid, which can be seen in the sunshine without the aid 
of a hand lens. The stigmas often remain receptive 
several days, but pollen should be applied as soon as pos- 
sible after they are ready. When the stigmas begin to 




Fig. 25. — Pollinating with a camel's-hair brush. 

turn brown they have passed the receptive period. A 
sunny day is favorable for hand-pollination. The pollen 
is commonly transferred to the pistils with a small cameFs- 
hair brush but some merely touch the pollen, then the 
pistils, with the end of a finger. It is important to place 
pollen upon each of the numerous pistils ; those that are 
missed will not produce seeds. Pollen should be applied 
very freely. If paper sacks are used to protect the pistils 



206 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

from foreign pollen, these should be kept on for two or 
three days after pollination. Crosses should be labeled 
at the time of pollination. Hand-crossing in the field 
is done in the same way, but it is necessary to use greater 
care to protect the blossoms from foreign pollination, 
and the results are much more uncertain; the weather 
may be unfavorable when pollination is done, the sacks 
may be torn, and the crossed fruit cannot be protected 
so readily from the depredations of birds and boys. 

Albert F. Etter, of Ettersburg, California, describes his 
method of crossing as follows : ^ " You may need a pen- 
knife, but not necessarily. You will need a piece of 
tissue paper two or three inches square, which is used 
as a hood to hold the male blossom in place over the 
newly opened female blossom. The stem of the plucked 
male blossom is inserted in a hole through the center of 
the tissue paper, and the blossom is placed over the female 
blossom. Now fold the paper back and tie with a small 
piece of cord. As the male blossom withers the pollen 
sacks burst and the dust is brought into contact with 
the pistils. By using a pistillate female parent, all that 
is necessary is to plant it side by side with the prospective 
male parent, and insects will do the rest. This, of course, 
is not scientific, but it is practical." 

The methods of Louis Hubach, a prominent breeder 
of Judsonia, Arkansas, are interesting. He uses only 
pistillate varieties as mother plants. "His experience 
has been that when he has crossed perfect-flowered with 
perfect-flowered varieties, the progeny lost in productive- 
ness. In an experiment in which he tested this, he found 
that the decrease in yield continued for several genera- 
tions. Because of this experience he has developed sev- 
1 Pacific Rural Press, Feb., 1916. 



BREEDING 207 

eral varieties having imperfect flowers which are used 
in breeding only. He grows, in a separate plot, four 
plants of each pistillate variety which he wishes to use. 
At the beginning of the flowering period, he encloses the 
four plants in a wooden frame covered with a white cloth 
of fine weave — preferably silk cloth. When a cross is 
to be made, a flower is picked early in the morning and 
is placed in an inverted position on one of the flowers 
under the cloth frame. Pollen falls on the pistils and 
fertilization takes place." ^ 

Sowing the seed. — Strawberries are grown from seed 
more easily than most other fruits. The berries are 
picked when dead ripe. The seeds may be separated 
from the pulp by crushing the berries and rubbing the 
pulp in fine, dry sand or loam until the soil and seeds 
are well mixed. Years ago it was advised that the berries 
be crushed between folds of blotting paper or absorbent 
cloth; when dry, the whole material was sown. This 
method may have been satisfactory for small berries, 
but it is not suitable for large-fruited sorts, which have 
so much pulp that the seeds do not separate from it read- 
ily. These are best handled by paring off the surface 
of each berry with a thin, sharp knife, removing a small 
amount of pulp with the seeds. The parings are placed 
in a stout cloth, which is held under water and kneaded 
to work out the pulp. Some breeders prefer to crush and 
wash the whole berry ; the seeds will settle, but the pulp 
will float and can be drained off. 

Formerly it was thought necessary to keep the seeds 
several months, or until the following spring, before sow- 
ing them. The seeds were placed in paper bags or mixed 
with sand and kept in a cool, dry place. There was much 
1 Jour. Heredity, VII, No. 12 (Dec, 1916), pp. 534-535. 



208 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

loss from poor germination ; only about five per cent of 
the dry, imported seed grows. Now, most breeders 
sow the seed as soon as possible after it is separated from 
the pulp and do not allow it to dry out. It is not neces- 
sary, as some have thought, to pack the clean seeds be- 
tween cakes of ice in order to "give a touch of winter.'* 
After the pulp is separated, mix the seeds thoroughly 
with a little dry, sifted sand, so as to be able to scatter 
it thinly and evenly. 

The seeds and sand are sown in pots, flats, frames or 
in the open ground. F. W. Louden kept the seeds from 
each berry separate and sowed them in an eight-inch pot 
filled with sharp sand, sunk into a frame shaded with 
laths. These precautions are not necessary. The seed 
may be sown in any light, rich soil, in rows about ten 
inches apart. The soil used in flats or frames is prefer- 
ably half sand, and it is well to sterilize it. The seed 
should be covered not over one-eighth of an inch deep 
with fine, sifted soil. The soil is packed firmly around 
the seeds by walking on a board placed over it. Cover 
the surface with coarse burlap so that the seeds will not 
be washed out by beating rains or with the sprinkler. 
Watering should be done with a hand sprinkler and a 
fine rose. 

Fruiting the seedlings. — When many seedlings are 
to be grown, it may be more convenient to sow the seed 
in low cold frames, covered with lath screens. The 
screens are made by leaving strips equal to the width 
of the lath between each two laths, thus providing alter- 
nate light and shade. A few seeds may be handled to 
best advantage in flats, which are small boxes about 
four inches deep, provided with drainage holes and a 
layer of cinders or potsherds in the bottom. Place a 



BREEDING 209 

pane of glass over each flat and set it in the shade. The 
chief advantage of flats is that they can be moved. 

If the seed was sown thinly, the seedlings may remain 
in the bed until August, when the strongest may be trans- 
planted to fruiting rows, where they are set two to three 
feet apart each way. In hot weather, invert small flower 
pots over each seedling during the middle of the day for 
a few days after transplanting, removing them at night 
and in damp weather. If there are only a few seedlings, 
they may be potted off in two-inch pots when about two 
weeks old, carried through the winter in the greenhouse 
or cold frame, and set in the field the next spring. After 
that the seedlings are given the same treatment as fall- 
set plants. They will need an abundance of plant food, 
thorough tillage and the removal of runners. In the 
North, exceptional care in mulching is necessary. 

The following spring the strongest seedlings may bear 
a little fruit, perhaps enough to indicate something of their 
value, but this will be at the expense of vigor. In the 
North, it is best to remove most of the blossoms and to 
wait until the next season, in which case it is two years 
from crossing to fruiting. In the South, fairly reliable 
evidence of the value of seedlings frequently is secured 
within a year. Seedlings of everbearing varieties have 
been known to fruit within six months from the cross 
(page 147). 

When the time to judge the seedlings arrives, the grower 
should fortify himself against disappointment; fully 
ninety per cent of them are likely to be inferior to either 
parent. There will be no uniformity in size, color of 
fruit, season of ripening or any other character. The 
berries of a large majority of the seedlings will be too soft 
to be of value. The quality of firmness has been bred 



210 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

into the strawberry so recently, as compared with the 
centuries that this fruit has been in existence, that it is not 
surprising that a majority of the seedlings revert. 

Bud Vaeiation 

Practically all new varieties of the strawberry, if not all, 
are produced by crossing ; there is a commingling of the 
characters of two parents. Whether new varieties that 
will persistently retain their distinctive characters are 
produced by bud variation, without the aid of crossing, 
long has been in dispute. Permanent varieties of numer- 
ous other plants are produced by bud variation. There 
are many distinct varieties of the pineapple, banana and 
horse radish, yet these plants never bear seed. A large 
proportion of the varieties of the carnation, rose, chrys- 
anthemum, violet and other cultivated flowers, originated 
as bud sports. It cannot be denied that it is impossible 
for varieties of strawberry to originate by bud variation ; 
all that can be said is that this is not common and that 
more emphasis has been placed upon it by certain propaga- 
tors than the facts warrant. 

The influence of environment. — The test of a new 
variety is ability to retain its distinctive character, as 
compared with other varieties, when grown under diverse 
conditions of soil and climate. When a variety becomes 
popular, various "improved" forms of it are offered. 
These are claimed to be distinct from the original variety 
and superior to it. Thus, we have had Felton's Improved, 
Wilson's Albany, Improved Bisel, Improved Bubach, 
Improved Parker Earle and many others. These are not 
seedlings, but merely plants of the original variety which, 
because of some favoring circumstance in culture and 



BREEDING 211 

perhaps, also, because of more care in propagation, have 
shown decided superiority ; they may be more productive, 
or the fruit larger or firmer than the type of that variety. 
When these plants or their progeny are taken out of this 
favorable environment, however, and grown elsewhere 
side by side with other plants of this variety3 little or no 
difference can be observed between the two. This shows 
that there has been no mutation, or marked and transmis- 
sible variation from type, which is necessary before the 
propagator is justified in designating it as a new variety. 
Differences between individual plants of the same variety 
are due almost entirely to differences in their environ- 
ment. F. W. Card says: "The environment, though 
apparently the same, may, in fact, differ greatly even in 
the same row. Perhaps, in distributing fertilizer, a larger 
amount may have fallen near one plant. Soil moisture is 
variable. Perhaps one plant may have suffered from an 
insect attack or from some mechanical accident which no 
longer shows. Even under the best conditions of field 
culture such possibilities always exist." Doubtless, the 
propagator was sincere in believing that he had produced 
a new variety by selection, but the fact is he simply had 
some excellent plants of the old sort, and he should have 
advertised them as such. 

Reported instances of bud variation. — Two supposed bud 
variations of the strawberry have been noted. The Pan- 
American, which is the progenitor of North American ever- 
bearing sorts, is said to have originated as a sport. The 
originator, Samuel Cooper, of Delevan, New York, says : 
"The Pan-American was found by me in the fall of 1898 
growing in a row of Bismarck plants set the previous spring. 
The Pan-American is evidently a sport, by bud variation, 
of the Bismarck." This conjecture may be true, but it 



212 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

is equally possible that the plant was a seedling that had 
become mixed with the plants of Bismarck. Another 
supposed bud variation was reported by W. Van Fleet in 
1904 as " a sport from the William Belt, originated on the 
grounds of T. N. White, Little Silver, New Jersey. It 
showed decided superiority over its parent when propagated 
and grown in quantity, being larger and more shapely." ^ 
The circumstances surrounding these supposed instances 
of bud variation are obscure and the facts not fully 
authenticated. It is difficult to escape the conviction that 
if distinct varieties of the strawberry do originate by sport- 
ing, this is decidedly uncommon. 

"Pedigree " strawberry plants. — In 1845 A. J. Downing 
advocated a method of propagating or breeding straw- 
berries that has since caused much discussion. He said : ^ 
"When the parent plants have become degenerated or 
partially or wholly barren, we should avoid taking the 
runners from such and choose only those which grow from 
the most fruitful ones. In order to make sure of the latter 
point, it is only necessary to mark the bearing plants by 
small sticks pushed into the bed by the side of each when 
the fruit is in perfection." Not much attention was paid 
to this advice for over fifty years. In 1896 0. W. Black- 
nail, of North Carolina, asserted : " Only a few exceedingly 
virile varieties, such as the Wilson, have sufficient vigor 
to last over a quarter of a century. Many excellent 
varieties run out in less time. This can be checked by 
selection. As the berries begin to ripen, go over the 
fields and select the most vigorous and most fruitful plants. 
Take them up, remove the berries and blossoms, and set 
them in a propagating bed." He contended that all 

1 Rural New Yorker, 1904, p. 542. 

2 " Fruits and Fruit Trees of America," p. 521. 



BREEDING ^ 213 

varieties could be greatly improved in this way. If this 
were true, it would remove the method from the field of 
propagation to that of breeding. 

R. N. Kellogg, of Three Rivers, Michigan, became the 
leading exponent of this method ; he called plants propa- 
gated in this way "pedigree plants." In 1902 he de- 
scribed his method thus : ^ " I have, for years, grown all 
my plants from ideal, or perfect, specimens, found here 
and there in the field, beginning the search for them in the 
growing season. Those most promising — showing large 
fruit crowns and healthy foliage — were staked and num- 
bered and the following spring restricted by removing 
half the blossom buds, to prevent pollen exhaustion. 
After the fruit is set, only two berries on each fruit stem 
are allowed to ripen, so that the form, texture, flavor and 
color of the berries may be determined. Each plant is 
scaled on the basis of one to ten, and the one showing the 
greatest number of points of excellence is given the blue 
ribbon and becomes the mother of the future plants of that 
variety on the farm." 

" Pedigree " strawberry plants have not proved to be 
permanent departures from the type of the variety. As 
grown at the South Dakota and Ohio Experiment Stations, 
the Central Experiment Farm of Canada, and elsewhere, 
they have proved to be practically identical with the 
variety of which they were supposed to be an improved 
form. At the Missouri Experiment Station, continuous 
bud selection for high yield over a period of fifteen years 
gave no consistent gain in the productiveness of the plants 
propagated from heavy-yielding plants over those propa- 
gated from low-yielding plants.^ It is evident that few, 

1 Mem. Hort. Soc. of N. Y., 1902, p. 171. 

2 Bui. 131, Mo. Exp. Sta. 



214 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

if any, permanent varieties may be expected from this 
source. This is not saying that it is not worth while to 
select the best mother plants in propagating a variety. 
That has been proved desirable with other kinds of plants 
propagated asexually, as well as those propagated by 
seeds ; — why not with the strawberry ? If practiced for 
several generations, this should give a stronger and more 
desirable stock of plants. It is conceivable that, if the 
plants are selected rigidly for many years, this might even 
modify the character of the variety to an appreciable 
extent ; but this result could hardly be expected in a few 
years, and most of the so-called "pedigree" plants have 
been selected but a short time. 

The term "pedigree" is, of course, wrongly applied here, 
since it implies an accurate record of many generations. 
No variety of strawberry has been selected long enough, 
and sufficiently full records kept, to justify the use of this 
term. Moreover, since the strawberry is propagated by 
dividing the old plant, there is really but one generation. 
The runners, from one generation to another, are merely 
a part of the original seedling. There can be no 
pedigree in plants that are propagated asexually. In 
so far as the term is used by nurserymen simply to 
designate well-grown nursery stock of the variety, prop- 
agated from desirable mother plants, the practice is 
to be commended, although the term is unfortunate. 
In so far as it is used to create the impression that 
the plants are markedly superior to ordinary nursery 
stock, it is a deception. Most of the "pedigree" plants 
sold today are simply well-grown plants of the variety, 
and nothing more. It would be better if they were 
sold for what they really are — selected, not " pedigree, " 
plants. 



BREEDING 215 

Strawberry Breeders 

The achievements of CM. Hovey and James Wilson 
are recorded on pages 22 and 35. Between 1834 and 
1854 a large number of strawberry growers made crosses 
and raised seedlings, hoping to duplicate the success of 
Hovey. One of the most fortunate of these early breeders 
was Zera Burr, of Columbus, Ohio, who introduced nine 
varieties. His Burr's New Pine, introduced in 1848, was 
widely grown in home gardens for many years because of 
its exquisite quality. The Longworth, which originated 
in 1848 with Mr. Schneike, a tenant of Nicholas Long- 
worth of Cincinnati, Ohio, is still grown commercially in 
California and is the oldest North American variety in 
cultivation. 

Achievements of Boyden, Downer and Durand. — Soon 
after the introduction of the Wilson, there appeared a 
trio of strawberry breeders who contributed largely to the 
list of improved varieties, — Seth Boyden, of Newark, 
New Jersey; J. S. Downer, of Fairview, Kentucky, and 
E. W. Durand, of Irvington, New Jersey. Seth 
Boyden raised many thousands of seedlings, but not 
from hand-crosses. His most notable contributions were 
the Agriculturist, Green Prolific and the Seth Boyden, 
which were introduced in 1863, 1864 and 1868, respectively. 
Green Prolific was grown in New Jersey as late as 
1897. It was a seedling of the Hovey, and from it have 
descended a number of varieties that are prominent today 
(page 189). 

J. S. Downer contributed three great commercial va- 
rieties, — Downer's Prolific (1858), Charles Downing 
(1867) and Kentucky (1869). All three, especially the 
Charles Downing, were widely grown. Downer's Prolific, 



216 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

which was said to have been produced from seed of the 
native Iowa strawberry, and its seedling, Charles Down- 
ing, were strong rivals of the Wilson between 1865 and 
1890. Kentucky was a standard late sort before the 
introduction of the Gandy. No man contributed more to 
North American strawberry culture, as measured by com- 
mercial results, than J. S. Downer, with the exception of 
James Wilson. 

List of breeders, 1854-1900. — These three were the out- 
standing names in strawberry breeding between 1854 
and 1900, but many other men contributed valuable 
varieties during that period. The following list includes 
some of these, together with the names and dates of the 
introduction of the varieties by which they ^will be 
remembered. 

P. M. Augur & Sons, Middlefield, Connecticut, Jewell (1885). 
James Stayman, Leavenworth, Kansas, Clyde (1890). 
J. C. Bauer, Judsonia, Arkansas, Bismarck (1895). 
Charles Arnold, Paris, Ontario, Maggie (1881), Alpha (1890). 

E. W. Cruse, Leavenworth, Kansas, Aroma (1892), Cyclone 

(1894). 

J. F. Beaver, Dayton, Ohio, Margaret (1896), Kitty Rice (1896), 
Nich Ohmer (1898). 

Mark T. Thompson, Lakewood, Ohio (later of Rio Vista, Vir- 
ginia), Carrie (1894), Mark Hanna (1898). 

Wilham Parry, Parry, New Jersey, Parry (1885). 

H. H. Alley, Hilton, New Jersey, Mary (1894). 

M. H. Ridgeway, Wabash, Indiana, Ridgeway (1897). 

J. K. Sharpless, Catawissa, Pennsylvania, Sharpless (1877). 

W. S. Gandy, Newport, New Jersey, Gandy (1888). 

James Ninon, Denison, Texas, Parker Earle (1889). 

R. L. Cloud, Independence, Louisiana, Klondike (19(X)). 

J. R. Reasoner, Urbana, lUinois, Dunlap (19(X)). 

John Little, Granton, Ontario, Woolverton (1891). 

Henry Young, Ada, Ohio, Enhance (1887). 

B. O. Curtis, Paris, Illinois, Enormous (1895). 

George Townsend, Gordon, Ohio, Frances Cleveland (1885). 

F. W. Loudon, Janesville, Wisconsin, Jessie (1886). 



BREEDING 217 

B. Hathaway, Little Prairie Ronde, Michigan, Michigan (1858), 

BidweU(1877). 
M. Crawford, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Mrs. Garfield (1883). 

B. H. Haverland, Cincinnati, Ohio, Haverland (1888). 
Fred E. Clark, Mt. Tabor, Oregon, Clark (1880). 

Breeders since 1900. — The list of strawberry breeders 
has been greatly enlarged since 1900. It is possible 
to mention here only a few of those who have contributed 
valuable varieties. 

C. C. Stone, Moline, lUinois, Buster (1902). 

Central Experiment Farm, Canada. Several varieties named for 

Shakespeare's heroines. 
Walter Van Fleet, Little Silver, New Jersey, Late Jersey (1912), 

Early Jersey (1912). 
H. J. Schild, Ionia, Michigan, July (1907), Grand Marie (1910). 
Samuel Cooper, Delevan, New York, Pan-American (1902), 

Superb (1911). 
Louis Hubach, Judsonia, Arkansas, Early Hathaway (1902), 

Annie Hubach (1904), Hubach and Hathaway (1906). 
J. A. Bauer, Judsonia, Arkansas, St. Louis (1907). 
J. H. Black, Son & Co., Hightstown, New Jersey, Joe (1899), 

Nettie (1899), Fisher (1904). 
E. H. Riehl, North Alton, lUinois, Ruby (1895), Luxury (1901). 
Harlow Rockhill, Conrad, Iowa, Americus (1910), Francis (1910), 

Progressive (1912). 
New York State Experiment Station, Geneva, New York, 

QuaUty (1908), Magnus (1908), Prolific (1908). 
Albert F. Etter, Ettersburg, CaHfornia, Rose Ettersburg (1903). 
S. H. Warren, Weston, Massachusetts, Latest (1900), Golden 

Gate (1906). 
E. W. Wooster, Hancock Point, Maine, Wooster (1908). 
G. W. Howard, Stevensville, Michigan, Satisfaction (1896), 

Ninety-six (1904), Howard (1904). 
A. B. Howard, Belchertown, Massachusetts, Dighton (1908), 

Howard (1909). 

The above lists do not include those who found promis- 
ing chance seedlings and were shrewd enough to recognize 
their value and to propagate them. Among these are : 



218 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

William Parmalee, New Haven, Connecticut, Crescent (1876). 
Oscar F. Felton, Mechanicsburg, New Jersey, Dollar (1894). 
E. T. Ingram, Westchester, Pennsylvania, Brandywine (1895). 
J. A. Ingram, E. Bradford, Pennsylvania, Glen Mary (1896). 

D. A. Thompson, Mt. Olive, North Carolina, Thompson (1895). 
Marshall Ewell, Marshfield Hills, Massachusetts, Marshall (1893). 
J. G. Bubach, Princeton, Illinois, Bubach (1890). 

George Michel, Judsonia, Ai'kansas, Michel (1889). 

The rewards of straivherry breeding. — It is easy to 
raise seedlings, but only very few of them are worth keep- 
ing. Hardly one seedling in ten thousand proves supe- 
rior ; most of them revert and are distinctly inferior to the 
parents. Successful strawberry breeding requires an 
infinite amount of patience, as well as skill. In recent 
years the laws of heredity have become better known and 
the results are somewhat more predictable. Some men 
raise hundreds of thousands of seedlings without producing 
one that they consider worthy of introduction; others 
pick up valuable sorts by the roadside. Those noted 
authorities on strawberry culture, A. S. Fuller and 

E. P. Roe, did not produce a single variety that stood 
the test, although they labored faithfully. 

The pecuniary reward in strawberry breeding is not 
large. Fifty years ago a valuable new variety could be 
sold for a good price. C. M. Hovey realized a large sum 
from the sale of plants of his seedling, but he enjoyed 
the advantages of exclusive propagation and exceptional 
facilities for advertising. Nicholas Longworth paid three 
hundred dollars for McAvoy's Superior, which was con- 
sidered a big price at that time. The "Tribune Straw- 
berries," three varieties originated by A. S. Fuller, none 
of which became prominent, captured a prize of three 
thousand dollars offered by the New York Tribune 
Company in 1872. George J. Streator, originator of the 



BREEDING 219 

Cardinal, was paid one thousand dollars for it by the 
Templin Company in 1905; yet this variety has not 
gained a foothold. It was reported that Jesse K. Sharp- 
less made about two thousand dollars on his seedling, 
although he lost control of the stock before its merits were 
fully known. 

Probably the largest price paid for a new variety in 
recent years was to Louis Hubach, of Judsonia, Arkansas, 
for the Hubach and Hathaway, more commonly called the 
"H. and H." It was sold in 1906 for fifteen hundred 
dollars; this price, however, included 150,000 plants. 
These are exceptional rewards. Ordinarily, a promising 
seedling, perhaps the sole survivor of many thousands of 
seedlings and years of effort, sells for one hundred dollars 
or less. The chance that it will become a standard sort 
among the numerous candidates for favor is so remote that 
nurserymen are not justified in paying more. In 1894 
Matthew Crawford purchased from the originator that 
sterling variety, the William Belt, for one hundred dollars. 
Occasionally a strawberry breeder tries to collect a royalty 
from all nurserymen who propagate his variety. This 
cannot be done; an originator can trade-mark a certain 
name, but he cannot copyright, trade-mark or patent 
anything that is not manufactured by man, but is pro- 
duced by nature, as in the propagation of a variety. 

Methods of introducing varieties. — The originator should 
be careful to whom he sends seedlings for preliminary 
tests ; many breeders have been defrauded by careless or 
unscrupulous dealers. Beder Wood, of Moline, Illinois, 
gave a few plants of his famous seedling to George Ash- 
ford, of Davenport, Iowa, for trial. This man propagated 
it and a neighbor of his, John Racster, introduced it as the 
Racster a year before Beder Wood introduced it himself. 



220 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



Plants of Michel were stolen from the originator, 
J. G. Michel, of Judsonia, Arkansas, and it was introduced 
the same year by different firms as Michel and Osceola. 
Usually, it is best to send a seedling to a number of 

strawberry specialists and ex- 
periment stations for prelim- 
inary trial before it is intro- 
duced to the public. If the 
reports from these tests are 
encouraging, there are several 
ways of bringing the new 
variety to the attention of the 
public. The most common 
method, and usually the most 
satisfactory, is to sell it out- 
right to a nurseryman. Some 
breeders prefer to let the nur- 
seryman handle it on com- 
mission, in which case the 
originator gets twenty or twenty-five per cent of the gross 
sales of plants. Occasionally the originator introduces 
it himself, but this is rarely satisfactory unless he is an 
experienced propagator. 




Fig. 26. — Matthew Craw- 
ford, for nearly fifty years the 
foremost North American prop- 
agator of the strawberry. 



Naming and Testing New Varieties 



No other fruit has a larger number of inappropriate 
and freak names. In 1882 T. T. Lyon indignantly 
branded the name of a recently introduced sort. Big Bob, 
as " rowdy ish and an outrage upon propriety." Nothing 
daunted, the originator of this euphonious variety pro- 
ceeded to inflict upon the public a seedling of it, which he 
named Big Bob's Baby. For many years the Code of 



BREEDING 221 

Nomenclature of the American Pomological Society has 
exerted a strong influence for simplicity and clearness in 
naming varieties. In brief, the Code recommends that 
the name consist of a single word, whenever possible, and 
never more than two words ; it should not include super- 
fluous and grandiose terms such as Seedling, Beauty, 
Mammoth or Wonder, nor any titles, as General, Senator 
or Lady ; the use of the possessive, as in Boyden's Mam- 
moth, is not advisable; the name should be distinctive, 
easy to pronounce and spell and preferably indicate some- 
thing of the origin or parentage of the variety. 

Usually it is best to name a variety for the originator, in- 
troducer, place of origin or for some distinctive feature of its 
appearance or behavior. When named for a certain per- 
son, it is permissible to use both family and given names ; 
as Frances Cleveland, but not Mrs. Cleveland. Varieties 
should not be named for persons without their consent. 
It is an embarrassing fact that practically all of the 
varieties named for horticultural celebrities have not 
achieved distinction; consider, for example, the E. P. 
Roe, Peter Henderson, T. T. Lyon and Marshall P. 
Wilder. The Hovey and Charles Downing are notable 
exceptions. 

Some years ago it was suggested that varieties be named 
so as to indicate their sex, but this has not been done to 
any extent. It does not seem appropriate, however, for 
Lady Thompson, Eleanor, Jessie, Margaret, Louise, 
Belle, Annie Laurie, Brunette, Gertrude and Mrs. Mark 
Hanna to be male or staminate varieties, while Mark 
Hanna, Col. Cheney and Big Bob are female or pis- 
tillate varieties. Since the pistillate sorts are being 
gradually eliminated, there is no need to consider this 
matter further. 



222 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Synonyms. — In 1824 James Barnet, Under Gardener 
in the garden of the Horticultural Society of London, at 
Chiswick, grew all the varieties known at that time except 
the French sorts. There were 226 supposed varieties, 
but on comparing them he found but fifty-four distinct 
sorts. If all of the 1879 North American varieties could 
be brought together for comparison, undoubtedly many 
synonyms would be detected, but certainly not as large a 
proportion as Barnet found. Most varieties are so fleeting 
that it would not be worth while to do this, even if it were 
possible. 

Synonyms arise chiefly from the re-introduction of old 
varieties under new names. In most cases this is the 
result of honest error rather than of intent to defraud. It 
is easy to mix plants in the nursery and exceedingly 
diflBcult to recognize them when mixed. In 1867 
A. F. Fuller decided, "Twembly's Union is Trollope's 
Victoria renamed, although it was awarded a premium 
as a new variety at a strawberry show in New York." 
Similar conditions exist today. Undoubtedly several of 
the New York group of varieties, which includes the 
Morgan, Oswego, Ryckman, Hummer, New York and 
several others, are really the same sort renamed. In 1898 
Henry Jerolamen of Hilton, New Jersey, introduced what 
he really supposed was a distinct novelty, but which 
turned out to be the Marshall. There were marked 
points of difference between the INIarshall as grown by 
the originator and the Henry as grown by Jerolamen, but 
when both were grow^n side by side these differences dis- 
appeared. This honest re-introduction of a variety, 
arising from failure to recognize it, is quite common ; in- 
tentional re-naming, fortunately, is rare. 

What is a distinct variety? — Part of the confusion in 



BREEDING 223 

strawberry nomenclature is due to differences of opinion 
as to what constitutes a distinct variety. Most horti- 
culturists agree that if it can be proved to have had a 
distinct origin, it is entitled to recognition, even though 
it is practically identical in appearance and behavior with 
an older sort. The controversy about the Champion 
and Windsor is a conspicuous example. Windsor was 
originated in 1875 by C. A. Gardner, Dimondale, Michigan, 
and was said by him to be Champion (of Neff) X Charles 
Downing. After general trial it was found to be prac- 
tically indistinguishable from Champion. Many were 
inclined to accuse Mr. Gardner of intentional deception, 
but it is more reasonable to suppose that the history of the 
variety is as he stated it and that Windsor is really a 
distinct seedling, but practically identical with one of its 
parents. There have been a number of similar cases. 
Soon after a variety has become established, various 
"improved" strains of it are offered. Most of these 
are merely selected stock, not seedlings, and do not 
differ materially from the type. They soon pass out of 
cultivation. 

About 1879 there was a movement to establish a 
"Board of Fruit Patents" which would pass upon the 
distinctiveness of new varieties. Nothing came of this, 
nor of similar efforts in later years. It would be imprac- 
ticable for three or four men to attempt to decide whether 
a proposed variety is distinct and whether or not it is 
worthy of being named and introduced. That authority 
should reside, not in a Board, but in horticulturists every- 
where. However, it would be a distinct advantage to have 
all proposed varieties registered and descriptions filed at 
one point. This would tend to make the introduction of 
a variety a matter for more careful consideration than has 



224 THE^ STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

been accorded to it hitherto, and would aid in detecting 
synonyms.^ 

Value of variety tests. — The pubHc is liable to take snap 
judgment upon a new variety ; if it is reported unfavorably 
by some authority, this condemns it in the minds of many 
growers. "There is not a variety of strawberry in culti- 
vation," said Thomas Meehan, "that has not, at some 
time or other, been pronounced utterly worthless by some 
competent authority." In 1860 the Wilson was voted 
"unfit for cultivation" by the Massachusetts Horticul- 
tural Society. For years the American Pomological So- 
ciety was the recognized authority on the value of varieties. 
A group of men from different parts of the United States 
and Canada met every other year and voted upon varieties. 
Some were "recommended for general cultivation," 
others put "on trial" and others "rejected." For the 
most part, these men voiced merely experience with 
varieties in their own localities, yet their recommendations 
covered great districts, perhaps including several States. 
This broadside method of determining the value of 
varieties was serviceable in the formative years of North 
American horticulture ; now it is superseded by the more 
local reports from State experiment stations, State horti- 
cultural societies and numerous other agencies. 

Many have supposed that the judgments of the experi- 
ment stations should be considered final and varieties ac- 
cepted or rejected according to their behavior on the station 
test plots. The fallacy of this view has been set forth by 
L. H. Bailey: "What the farmer v/ants to know is the 

1 All of the over 1800 varieties of North American origin are 
described in Technical Bulletin 11, Virginia Agricultural Ex- 
periment Station, Blacksburg, Virginia: "North American 
Varieties of the Strawberry," by S. W. Fletcher. 



BREEDING 225 

value of the variety upon his place, not upon the experi- 
ment station farm, and he is the only person who can find 
it out. To thoroughly test a variety is to introduce it. 
When it is once introduced the general consensus of opinion 
of men who actually grow it for the purpose for which it is 
desired forms the best and the only criterion of its value." 
After making variety tests of strawberries for a series 
of years, with a discrimination and minuteness of record 
almost unknown in America, the Woburn Fruit Experi- 
ment Farm, of England, reached this conclusion in 1900 : 
"The experiments have entirely failed in proving ac- 
curately the respective merits of different varieties of 
strawberries. The crops of any particular variety vary 
enormously from year to year. The comparative merits 
of different varieties of the same age, when under precisely 
similar conditions, are almost entirely different in one 
year from what they are in the next. . . . The average 
difference in the position of the heaviest cropping variety 
and the lightest cropping variety from one year to another 
was twelve places out of sixty-four varieties tested. . . . 
Our results are of little value when applied to the country 
at large, where the variations in soil are infinitely greater 
than those on our own farm. Without impugning our 
ground or manure, there would seem to be ample explana- 
tion for the variations noticed in dealing with such a 
short-lived, low growing and somewhat delicate plant. 
The crop must depend largely, if not chiefly, on the prog- 
ress of events during the short period from blossoming to 
fruitage. We do not hesitate to say that a large pro- 
portion of the energy of many horticultural stations is 
entirely thrown away in making large collections of 
different varieties with the sole object of recording their 
behavior at the station in question." 

Q 



226 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 

Why varieties run out. — Varieties that have been 
in cultivation a long time and, apparently, have become 
less vigorous and productive than when introduced, are 
said to have "run out." Strawberries run out more 
quickly than other fruits because of the shorter interval 
between generations. Fifty years ago, when most 
growers were beginning to find the Wilson less responsive 
than it had been, it was thought that no variety of straw- 
berry could be expected to last longer than twenty-five 
years, even under the most favorable care. It was argued 
that it is natural and inevitable for a variety to gradually 
decline and that the only solution is to have a succession 
of new sorts coming forward to replace the exhausted old 
varieties. This theory has been effectually disproved. 
J. M. Smith, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, grew the Wilson 
profitably long after it had run out elsewhere. The 
Longworth still is a profitable commercial variety in Cali- 
fornia, although seventy-five years old. Several varieties 
over one hundred years old are grown in England and are, 
apparently, just as valuable today as when introduced. 
There is no limit to the life of a variety if it has good care. 

The chief cause of running out is neglect. At the time 
when growers were mourning the decline of the Wilson, 
they were fruiting their beds for six to twelve years, with- 
out annual renewal. Not only was the vigor of the plants 
seriously impaired, but, also, the beds became full of seed- 
lings. " At this time we have but few beds of pure Wilsons 
in this State," declared J. L. Budd of Iowa in 1876. "If 
some known variety be not mixed with it, its own seedlings 
are annually produced." Some prominent varieties have 
declined and eventually disappeared because of their 
susceptibility to disease; the Hunn was ruined by leaf 
blight. Most varieties are lost because nurserymen 



BREEDING 227 

cease to propagate them, either because there is not 
enough demand for the plants or because they do not 
multiply readily. 

The foregoing paragraphs indicate that no one need 
be tempted to undertake the breeding of strawberries by 
the hope of financial reward. Scarcely a dozen men, out 
of the many hundreds who have engaged in this fascinating 
occupation, have received even a fair recompense for their 
effort. Those who see greater possibilities in the straw- 
berry than appear in the varieties of today will continue 
to give themselves to the task of perfecting it, mainly as a 
labor of love. 



INDEX 



Abergust, the secret of, 98. 
Abnormal structural forms, 200. 
Acreage, about 1854, 33. 

large individual, at Norfolk, 1871, 
69. 
Alabama, history of culture in, 73. 
Alpine, culture as an everbearer, 
138. 
botany of, 153. 
American Pomological Society, code 

of nomenclature of, 220. 
Analyses of berries, 182. 

Bailey, L. H., quoted on variety 

tests, 224. 
Barnet, James, on the pollination 

of the Chili, 96. 
"Barren" plants, 19, 98. 
Beecher, Henry Ward, quoted on 

the Wilson, 39. 
Beginning of garden culture, 6. 
Berries, character of flesh, 171. 

desirable color, 169. 

desirable shape of, 167. 

desirable type of calyx, 158. 

flavor of, 172. 

food value of, 181. 

"Mammoth," 18, 164. 

medicinal value of, 184. 

quality in, 173. 
Blossom, desirable type of, 161. 
Boom days, 1858-1870, 42. 
Boston, culture near, 1812, 13. 

prejudiced against the Wilson, 38. 

"wonderful yield" near, 1869, 48. 
Botanical relationships of the straw- 
berry, 196. 
Botany of the strawberry, 147. 



Box, evolution of, 81. 

first gift, 84. 

return, introduction of, 82. 
Breeders, list of, 215. 
Breeding, 188. 

changing ideals in, 192. 

for a specific purpose, 192. 

for one thing at a time, 193. 

methods, early, 201. 

rewards of, 218. 

species and varieties used in, 195. 
Broadcast training, era of, 88. 
Bud variation, occurrence of, 210. 

reported instances of, 211. 
Bunyard, E. A., quoted, on origin 

of the Pine, 122. 
Burbank, Luther, strawberry-rasp- 
berry hybrid, 195. 

California, history of culture in, 74. 
Calyx, desirable type of, 168. 
Canada, history of culture in, 75. 
Chili strawberry, commercial cul- 
ture in U.S. about 1771, 6. 
culture of, in France, 115. 
introduction into Europe, 114. 
Cincinnati, culture near, about 1845, 
27. 
culture near, 1855, 31. 
field culture near, 1865, 44. 
Horticultural Society, Report of, 

on pollination, 104. 
stand of drawers, 78. 
Cist, Charles, quoted, 27. 
Color of berries, describing, 170. 

desirable, 169. 
Commercial culture, beginning of, 
near Baltimore, 17. 



229 



230 



INDEX 



Commercial culture — continued, 
condition of, in 1854, 33. 
extension of, 1838-1854, 27. 
near Boston, 13. 
near New York City, 15. 
Competition from the South, 

52. 
Cooper, Samuel, origin of the Pan- 
American, 144. 
Crate, evolution of, 81. 
first gift, 84. 

return, introduction of, 82. 
Crawford, Matthew, referred to, 

220. 
Crossing, hand, 203, 
Cultural methods, special, 1820- 

1870, 49. 
Culture, commercial, beginning of, 
12. 
about 1800, 10. 
early, in Europe, 109. 
market garden, near Pittsburgh, 

1867, 45. 
methods of, about 1790, 7. 
near Cincinnati, 1865, 44. 
of strawberries in Mexico, 140. 

Dean, Samuel, "New England 
Farmer," quoted, 7. 

Delaware-Maryland peninsula, his- 
tory of culture on, 63. 

Describing varieties, 175. 

Diet, value of strawberries in, 185. 

Disease resistance of varieties, 
158. 

Downing, A. J., quoted on polli- 
nation, 102, 

Drawers, Cincinnati stand of, 78. 

Duchesne, pollination experiments 
of, 94. 

Dwight, Timothy, "Travels in New 
England," quoted, 13. 

Earle, Parker, experiments with the 
refrigerator car, 55, 
our obligation to, 60, 
England, early culture in, 110. 
Etter, A, F,, quoted on methods of 
crossing, 206, 



Everbearers, early failures with, 
142. 
European varieties of, 141. 
origin of, American type, 138. 
Exhibitions, strawberry, origin of, 

43. 
Express, fruit-growers', introduc- 
tion of, 54. 

Fall-bearers, 147. 

Festival, strawberry, origin of, 42. 

"Fever, Strawberry," 1858-1870, 

42, 
Flavor of berries, 172. 
Flesh of berry, desirable character 

in, 171, 172. 
Florida, history of culture in, 70. 
Foliage, good characters in, 159. 
Food value, 181. 

Forcing in hot-beds and cold- 
frames, 49, 
Fragaria americana, botanical de- 
scription of, 153. 
ananassa, origin of , 116. 
chiloensis, as parent of the Pine, 
117, 122. 
botanical description of, 150. 
commercial culture of, in France, 

115. 
early importations pistillate, 96. 
hardiness of, 135. 
introduction into England, 115. 
introduction into Europe, 114. 
variationunder cultivation, 136. 
variations in, 152. 
chinensis, as a possible parent of 

the Pine, 122. 
elatior, botanical description of, 

154. 
grandiflora, origin of, 116. 
mexicana, occurrence of, in 

Mexico, 140. 
vesca, as a possible parent of the 
Pine, 121. 
botanical description of, 153. 
early culture in Europe, 113. 
virginiana, a probable parent of 
Downer's Prolific and 
Charles Downing, 131. 



INDEX 



231 



Fragaria virginiana — continued, 
botanical description of, 149. 
free-running habit of, 135. 
hardiness of, 136, 
in the evolution of the garden 
strawberry of North 
America, 125. 
introduction into Europe, 113. 
Freak strawberries, 201. 
Frezier, Captain, introduction of 

the Chili, 115. 
Fruit, desirable characters in, 162. 
buds, when formed, 198. 
stalks, desirable type of, 161. 
Fuller, A. S., quoted, on training, 88. 

Gardiner, John, "The American 
Gardener," quoted, 10. 

Georgeson, C. C, quoted on breed- 
ing, 194. 

Gift packages, introduction, 84. 

Goff, E. S., quoted on fruit bud 
formation, 198. 

Goldsborough, A. T., "mammoth" 
berries of, 166. 

Gulf States, history of culture in, 
73. 

Hallocks, origin of, 82. 

Hansen, N. E., quoted on breeding, 

194. 
Hardiness, as evidence of botanical 
origin, 135. 
breeding for, 194. 
comparative, of varieties, 158. 
of F. chiloensis, 135. 
of F. virginiana, 136. 
Hautbois, botanical description of, 
154. 
culture in United States about 

1771, 6. 
pollination of, 95. 
Hedge-row, evolution of, 91. 
Hill training previous to 1840, 87. 
History, early, in Europe, 109. 
in North America, 1. 
of important districts, 60. 
Hot-beds and cold-frames, forcing 
in, 49. 



Hovey, C. M., originator of the 
Hovey, 21. 
quoted, on pollination, 100, 101. 
quoted, on Wilson strawberry, 

38. 
strawberry, sex of, 100. 
Hubach, Louis, quoted on method 

of crossing, 206. 
Hybrid of strawberry and rasp- 
berry, 195. 
Hyde, James F. C, quoted, 13. 

Illinois, history of culture in, 64. 

Jamestown, Virginia, strawberries 

at, 2. 

Keens, Michael, on pollination of 
the Hautbois, 95. 
originator of Keens' Seedling, 
123. 
Kellogg, E,. M., quoted on "pedi- 
gree" plants, 213. 
"King," strawberry, 27, 30. 
Knight, Thomas Andrew, on straw- 
berry breeding, 124. 
Knox, John, gift box of, 84. 
methods of culture, 1867, 46. 
yields and prices, 47. 

Longworth, Nicholas, quoted on 
pollination, 98, 100. 

"Longworth's Theory," final vin- 
dication of, 107. 

Louisiana, history of culture in, 73. 

McMahon, Bernard, "American 
Gardeners' Calendar," 
quoted, 11. 
quoted on pollination, 97. 

Male plants, 100, 105, 106. 

"Mammoth" berries, 18, 164. 

Market, cars arriving late on, 55. 

Maryland, acreage in, 1850, 29. 
field culture in, 1850, 44. 

Massachusetts Horticultural So- 
ciety, influence of, 22. 

Matted row, evolution of, 90. 

Medicinal value, 184. 



232 



INDEX 



Meehan, Thomas, quoted on polli- 
nation, 103. 

Mexico, culture in, 140. 

Michigan, history of culture in, 64. 

Mississippi, history of culture in, 
73. 

Missouri, history of culture in, 
74. 

Morphology of the strawberry, 
196. 

Naming varieties, 220. 

Neck, long, as evidence of botanical 

origin, 134. 
New England, wild strawberries of, 

2. 
New Jersey, culture in, about 1820, 

15. 
history of culture in, 62. 
yields and prices in, 1865-1870, 

49. 
New York City, culture near, about 

1820, 15. 
strawberries marketed in, 1847, 

28. 
strawberry market, 1861, 61. 
New, York, Oswego County, his- 
tory of culture in, 63. 
Norfolk, first berries shipped from, 

52. 
North Carolina, history of culture 

in, 72. 
Novelty, the first, 23. 

Ohio Pomological Society, Report 

of, 1865, 44. 
Oregon, history of culture in, 75. 
Origin of everbearers, 138. 
the four-stem varieties, 128. 
the garden strawberry, botanical 

evidence, 132. 
the garden strawberry, historical 

evidence, 128. 
the garden strawberry of Europe, 

113. 
the garden strawberry of North 

America, 125. 
the English name, 111. 
the Pine, 116. 



Packages, early, 76. 

evolution of box and crate, 81. 
gift, slow adoption in East, 84. 
return, disadvantages of, 85. 
the first gift, 84. 
"Paradisus Terrestris," quoted, 

111, 114. 
Parker Earle, quoted, on refrigera- 
tor cars, 33. 
Parkinson, John, quoted on medi- 
cinal value, 184. 
"Pedigree" plants, origin of, 212. 

experiments with, 213. 
Pennsylvania, wild strawberries of, 

4. 
Pine, first record of culture in 
North America, 10. 
origin of, 116. 
Pistillate variety, definition of, 104. 
Plant breeding, stimulated by in- 
troduction of the Hovey, 26. 
Plant, desirable characters in the, 

157. 
Plant-making habits of varieties, 

160. 
Pollen, collecting for crossing, 204. 

vitality of, 204. 
Pollination discussion, 100. 

early troubles with, in America, 

96. 
in crossing, 205. 
of the Chili, 96. 
of the Hautbois, 95. 
question, early history of, 94. 
secret of Abergust, 99. 
stimulating effect of, 32. 
troubles, 1823, 19. 
Pottle, use near Boston, 1820, 76. 
Prices, about 1835, 18. 
about 1840, 30. 
at Cincinnati, 1847, 28. 
at Norfolk, 1871, 68. 
high, 1858-1870, 42, 48. 
in New Jersey, 1865-1870, 49. 
of John Knox, Pittsburgh, 1860, 
47. 
Prince, William, nursery of, 6. 
Productiveness, standards of, 158. 
Profits, large, in Florida, 1886, 71. 



INDEX 



233 



Punnet, use near New York City, 

1815-1850, 77. 
Purdy, A. M., quoted, 79. 

Quality in berries, 173. 
shipping, 171. 

Railroads, extension of, after 1854, 

51. 
Refrigerator cars, early experi- 
ments with, 55. 
successful results with, 59. 
Renewing the bed, early methods 

of, 92. 
Return packages, disadvantages of, 

85. 
introduction, 82. 
Reversion of seedlings to primitive 

types, 123. 
Richardson, C. W., quoted on origin 

of the Pine, 121. 
Rockhill, Harlow, originator of 

everbearing varieties, 146. 
Runners, abundance of, as evidence 

of botanical origin, 134. 
number desirable in a variety, 

160. 

Scarlet, introduction into Europe, 

113. 
Score card for varieties, 178. 
Season of ripening, 162. 
Seed, sowing, 207. 
Seedlings, fruiting the, 208. 

reversion to primitive types, 123. 
Seeds, as affecting value of berry, 
171. 

position of, as evidence of bo- 
tanical origin, 134. 
Sex in the strawberry, 96. 

influence of culture on, 102. 

naming varieties to indicate, 221. 
Shape of berries, desirable, 167. 
Shipping quality, 171. 
Size of berries, abnormal, 164. 

about 1833, 18. 

most desirable, 163. 
Slaymaker, A. W., quoted, 55, 
62. 



Smith, B. F., quoted, 65. 
Solms-Laubach, Count of, quoted, 

on the origin of the Pine, 122. 
South Carolina, history of culture 

in, 69. 
South, increasing competition from, 

after 1860, 52. 
Staminate variety, definition of, 

104. 
Stand of drawers, 78. 
"Strawberry King," 27, 30. 
Strawberry mound, in 1859, 50. 
Strawberry, origin of the name. 111. 
"Strawberry War," 99. 
Sturtevant, E. Lewis, quoted, on 

origin of the garden form, 

133. 
Ssmonyms, origin of, 222. 

Taylor, W. A., quoted, on refrigera- 
tor cars, 58. 

Tennessee, history of culture in, 74. 

Thivolet, Abb6, originator of ever- 
bearers, 141. 

Thomas, F. A., development of re- 
frigerator car system, 58. 

Thorbum, Grant, "Gentleman's 
and Gardener's Kalender," 
quoted, 12. 

Training, broadcast, era of, 88. 
early methods of, 87. 
evolution of hedge-row, 91. 
of matted row, 90. 

Transportation, by boat, Norfolk 
to New York, 1850, 67. 
facilities, improvement in, after 
1854, 50. 

Tubs, used for marketing straw- 
berries, 78. 

Varieties, Bidwell, origin of, 132. 
Charles Downing, 40. 
descendants of, 132. 
origin of, 131. 
Crescent, competitor of the Wil- 
son, 40. 
descendants of, 131, 191. 
origin of, 131. 
pollination of, 96. 



234 



INDEX 



Varieties — continued. 

Crimson Cone, culture of, 16. 

describing, 175. 
Downer's Prolific, origin of, 131. 
Eariy Hudson, introduction of, 

7. 
European, sweeter than Ameri- 
can, 183. 
everbearing, eariy failures with, 

144. 
fall bearing, 147. 
Fressant, first cultivated variety, 

113. 
grown, 1800-1838, 19. 

1838-1854, 31. 
Hovey, descendants of, 129, 189. 
introduction of, 23. 
"mammoth" berries of, 165. 
origin of, 21. 
parentage of, 128. 
unsatisfactory results with, 25. 
Jucunda, as grown at Pitts- 
burgh, 1860, 47. 
Keens' Seedling, origin and de- 
scription of, 123. 
Large Early Scarlet, 5. 

commercial culture of, 1800- 
1875, 126. 
methods of introducing, 219. 
naming and testing new, 220. 
of known parentage, 189. 
of F. virginiana grown com- 
mercially, 126. 
Old Pine, origin of, 116. 

description of, 119. 
Pan-American, origin of, 144. 
prices paid for new, 218. 
Red Wood, culture near Boston, 

about 1820, 14. 
running out of, 226. 
score card for, 178. 
Sharpless, competitor of the Wil- 
son, 41. 



Varieties — continued. 
Sharpless — continued, 
descendants of, 130. 
parentage of, 130. 
the four-stem, 189. 
Wilson, competitors of, 40. 
descendants of, 130, 190. 
good points of, 39. 
long popularity of, 36. 
objections to, 38. 
origin of, 35. 
parentage of, 130. 
Variety, desirable characters in a, 
157. 
tests, value of, 224. 
what is a distinct, 222. 
Ventilator cars, introduction of, 54. 
Vilmorin, P. de, quoted, on origin 

of the Pine, 118. 
Virginia, history of culture in, 67. 

wild strawberries in, 2. 
Virginian strawberry, commercial 
culture of, 125. 

Warder, J. A., quoted, on pollina- 
tion, 99. 
White-fruited form of F. vesca, 153. 

varieties, 170. 
Wild strawberries, not sweeter than 
cultivated, 183. 
distribution of, 147. 
of New England, 2. 
of Virginia, 2. 
Wilson, James, originator of the 

"JVilson, 35. 
Woburn Fruit Experiment Farm, 
quoted, on variety tests, 225. 

Yields, about 1823, 17. 
1840, 30. 

heavy, about 1867, 48. 
in New Jersey, 1865-1870, 49. 
John Knox, Pittsburgh, 1860, 47. 



P*rinted in the United States of America. 



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AN IMPORTANT ADDITION TO 

THE RURAL SCIENCE SERIES 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 



Strawberry Growing 



By S. W. FLETCHER 

Professor of Horticulture at the Pennsylvania State College 

24 full-page plates and 22 figures in the text, $1.75 

The strawberry occupies a position among North American 
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crops, treatment with fertilizers, tillage and irrigation, the train- 
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ing, varieties of berries, insects, diseases, and statistics on acreage, 
production, and value. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

I. Locations, sites, and soils. 

II. Planting. 

III. Rotations, manuring, and fertilizing. 

IV. Tillage and irrigation. 
V. Training the plant. 

VI. Mulching. 

VII. Pollination. 

VIII. Packages. 

IX. Picking and packing. 

X. Marketing. 

XI. Cost of production, yields, profits. 

XII. Propagation and renewal. 

XIII. Everbearing varieties, forcing and other special methods of 

culture. 

XIV. Insects, diseases, and frost. 
XV. Varieties. 

Appendix. Statistics on Acreage, Production, and Value. 



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The Potato 



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With illustrations, $1.50 

The authors of this book are especially fitted to write 
upon the potato. Professor Gilbert, as professor of 
plant breeding at Cornell, has made a careful study of 
potato breeding and varieties for several years. For- 
merly teacher of farm crops and director of agricultural 
extension work at the University of Maine, he has 
become thoroughly familiar with potato growing in the 
East, particularly in the famous Aroostook County 
region. Dr. Barrus is considered one of the best 
authorities on potato diseases in the country. The 
chapters he has contributed to the work deal with 
disease and its control. Mr. Dean wrote the chapters 
on field practice. He is a successful commercial 
grower, and has given much attention to the different 
systems of potato growing throughout the United 
States. 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 

WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF OVER 500 COLLABORATORS 

New edition, entirely rewritten and enlarged, with many new features; with 
24 plates in color, 96 full-page half tones, and over 4,000 text illustra- 
tions. Complete in six volumes. Sold only in sets. 



Set cloth, $36,00 Leather J $60.00 



"The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture," pronounced by ex- 
perts to be an absolute necessity for every horticulturist and of 
tremendous value to every type of gardener, professional and ama- 
teur, is completed. "An indispensable work of reference to every 
one interested in the land and its products, whether commercially or 
professionally, as a student or an amateur," is the Boston Transcripf s 
characterization of it, while Horticulture adds that " it is very live 
literature for any one engaged in any department of the horticultural 
field." 

" This really monumental performance will take rank as a stand- 
ard in its class. Illustrations and text are admirable. . . . Our 
own conviction is that while the future may bring forth amplified 
editions of the work, it will probably never be superseded. Recog- 
nizing its importance, the publishers have given it faultless form. 
The typography leaves nothing to be desired, the paper is calcu- 
lated to stand wear and tear, and the work is at once handsomely 
and attractively bound." — New York Daily Tribune. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New Tork 



A Manual of Fruit Diseases 

By-; LEX (JR. HESLER 

Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology in the New York State College of 
Agriculture at Cornell University, and 

HERBERT H. WHETZEL 

Professor of Plant Pathology in the New York State College of Agriculture 
at Cornell University 

With illustrations ; cloth, i2mo, $2.00 

This manual contains a presentation of the known 
facts and data with respect to the common diseases of 
fruits. It has been prepared primarily for the modern 
agriculturist, the farmer, the thinking fruit grower, but 
it should also be of service to anyone who has an inter- 
est in plant diseases. The fruits are taken up in alpha- 
betical order. The discussion of the diseases proceeds 
in order of their importance and prominence in the 
United States. Particular attention is paid to the de- 
scription and illustration of the symptoms, to the cause 
and to the generally accepted measures of control. 
Technical details are omitted as far as possible though 
the effort has been made to present the matter in as 
popular a fashion as possible. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



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